I forgot....

the innoculant

Do I need to pull out my sowed peas and do this or will they sprout on their own?

You can sprinkle and rake the innoculent in then water it well. That's what I did when I couldn't get it till after I planted.

It seems reasonable that you could add the innoculant now and water it in.

Some people add the innoculant to the pea or bean itself before planting, but others add it directly to the soil and plant the bean or pea on top of it.

Ummmm.....newb question.....what is inoculate and what is it used for? and does it have to be done?

Thanks for the advice all.

Wolf here's what Arzeena Hamir, an agronomist and garden writer based in Vancouver, BC had to say about pea germination....

Whether you’re direct seeding or transplanting, peas grown in early spring will benefit from the addition of inoculant. Peas, like other members of the legume family, have the ability to supply their own nitrogen from the atmosphere through a relationship they have with Rhizobia bacteria.

Although rhizobia are naturally occurring, in cold soil, they are not very active. Inoculant contains millions of these rhizobia bacteria and often comes in the form of a powder. Gardeners can either coat the seeds directly (like “Shake & Bake”) or mix inoculant into the soil where the transplants will grow. Either way, you will see a benefit. In trials, inoculated pea plants yielded 77% more peas than uninoculated plants. One word of caution, once the inoculant is moistened, use it all & do not let it dry out or you will kill the rhizobia.

Since peas can fix their own nitrogen, they require less nitrogen in their fertilizer. A fertilizer too rich in N (the first number) will promote leafy growth and delay flower & pod production. Before planting, compost or aged manure can be dug in. Peas also respond well to the addition of phosphorus (the middle number) so digging in bonemeal or rock phosphate will help with pea production.

Pre-sprouting, inoculating and extra phosphorus will all help your peas to get a jump on the weather and produce a bounty of harvest.

WolfHeart wrote:Ummmm.....newb question.....what is inoculate and what is it used for? and does it have to be done?

+1....and I have 19 pea plants coming up.

From reading below, great addition btw, it seems like a bacterial fertilizer? Seems like it's beneficial, but not required. SFG Nazis, string me up if I'm bucking the system by not adding any. (Seriously, if I'm in your crosshairs.....for God's sake, take the shot!)

AHHH.....thank you Healing Garden....Now i must go to the store in a quest for inoculate

BBG and WolfHeart,

It is not required. You can grow peas perfectly well without it and many MANY people do. However, if you use it statistics suggest that you should see increased yield. That increased yield definitely fits with the SFG philosophy. I'd say if you have it and/or if you can find it then use it. If not... well, just plant the peas.

good to know! I haven't gotten my peas out yet. Where do you find it? Is it only at more specialized nurseries, or do the big box stores carry it as well?

I have never seen it in a big box store, but that doesn't mean anything. I have seen it in seed catalogs and smaller hardware stores as well as nurseries.

Just curious if anyone has done side by side tests? With and without. I've never used it.

Me neither.

Gwynn

I found the inoculate right by the pea seeds. Was in a slot next to them. Darn....Walmart I think. Maybe not. I need to start writing stuff like that down! Now I have enough to use forever, and you don't have to add it each year I guess. I have never used it before so am curious how it will do. I was going to soak my peas this week before planting but decide that since I was planting hours before a big rain it wasn't necessary. Always soaked before maybe it is the MM making me try different ways! This is the first bed that is pure MM....doing another one tomorrow. It is so darn funny, so many ask about my sfg garden, and knew how much I loved it last year, but they are still stuck on rows. Or stuck with the idea that it is too much work to garden! They just can't seem to realize how little I had to weed and such last year!

Inoculate is rather expensive, I paid $7.95 (I probably could have found it elsewhere for less, but in my small town, you buy it if/when you find it) My Wal-mart did not have it.

I did buy it and I am using it now. I have also read that once you have grown peas in a particular garden bed, you don't need to use it again. Since mine is a brand new batch of Mel's Mix, I figured it won't hurt.

Just remember there is an expiration date on the inoculant and it's life is about one year or less. What I bought in March, expires in June. You shouldn't keep it over for the next year, even if you reseal the package.

I had never even heard of this being a garden newbie myself. I just planted my peas and they did amazing this year. Of course... I was reading that cold soil is the problem. I'm not sure there is such a thing in Az!

I've never used it, and had never heard of it until recently. I'm a bit weary of innoculant due to one of the ingredients they add to some of the ones used for commercial growers. There are some who believe it could possibly be one factor in the decline of the bees. CAUTION: DO NOT take my word for this, I can neither confirm nor deny these claims, it is just something I recently read while trying to learn more about bees so I could assist my husband with his if needed. Not all innoculents contain the same ingredients the commercial growers use. However, it does pay to learn what you are adding to your soil, and possibly your food, do your own reading on it.

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will see what happens with the ones I planted without inoculant. If they come up then I guess it wasn't necessary. If not than I'll use inoculant with the seeds I replace them with. I didn't know that they would germinate without the inoculant. I actually hadn't bought any so if I can spare the expense than great.

They will germinate, and produce, it's just something man came up with to help them along. Don't wory, people grew peas long before there was innoculant.