on the package of pod peas that I plan on planting it says that the addition of a nitrogen innoculant is recommended...... what exactly is that, and I hope there's an organic alternative. I am assuming that it means peas don't like high nitrogen level.

I also have a bag full of fireplace ashes, should I put them directly into the compost? My veggie garden is a mix of everything, will adding this to the garden hurt things that like acid soil?

Thanks all, for any help

I'm not sure what the innoculant is.... ahes could go into the compost but, I woulld mix sparingly they will probably not compost much but will provide the "P" in NPK....As a result they will change the ph of your soil some...


CAPTAIN COMPOST?????

Inoculants are typically dry powders that contain symbiotic rhizobial bacteria. When the seeds of legumes like bush peas and vine peas are treated with inoculant, the plants will form nitrogen nodules on their root systems as well as produce increased yields. The pea plants don't need the nitrogen fixed by the inoculant. Rather, when the pea plants are tilled under, the nitrogen in the nodules becomes available in the soil for the next crop of plants - preferably one that likes nitrogen like tomatoes.

To apply the inoculant, dust the pea seeds with a light amount of inoculant as you plant. Inoculant is an especially good idea if you haven't planted peas in the chosen area before.

All legumes like beans, peas, clovers, vetch can fixate nitrogen freely from the atmosphere via living rhizobacteria, growing in the legume roots under the soil. The store bought inocculants are actually specific rhizobacteria, dormantly stored on dark peat moss like flour, sold in closed packets. One pack can normally inocculate an acre of that kind of legume. Here these packets sell for around $5 .

The rhizobacteria will not grow or thrive in the soil, unless it is physically rubbed on the legume seeds at planting time. Some growers like to use small amounts of syrups like molasses to stick the rhizobacteria to the legume seeds. Plus all sugars are powerful microbial biostimulants in the soil.

There is one rhizobacteria species for all legumes in the beans, peas, and vetch family. There is a totally different species for all legumes in the clovers family. Rhizobacteria will only live and thrive inside the roots of the correct host legume species.

Now having said all that, some sustainable gardeners live myself, just don't use inocculants anymore. Inocculant rhizobacteria is so fragile to weather, temperatures, and soil types, that most experts say that they work best in virgin poor soils, better than in rich, high organic soils, like mine.

If you keep your soil loaded with rich compost, mulches, cover crops, tea brews, etc. you may never see any real noticeable foliage growth from theses legumes by using their respective rhizobacteria inocculants.

Also there are millions of other beneficial aerobic microbes in good rich organic soil besides rhizobacteria. Azotobacteri, for example, can grow from compost piles to soil, fixate free atmosphere nitrogen in the soil, even without using a host legume's root system. Mycorhizza fungi, can make P and K more available to plant roots, as it naturally attaches itself to your plant's root system, as it comes from your compost, or leaf mold, or from good fungal compost tea brews.


Hope this helps.
Happy Gardening!