A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 last desperate question about peas and beans

The pea package said to use inoculant, but I can't find any. I want to plant today or tomorrow. Should I just go ahead and plant them without?

Do you think this idea is whacky? I am concerned I might be too late with the peas... so my plan is to plant them behind the pole beans to make shade for peas. I will run the bean row east/west with a turn to the north to make an L shaped screen. My garden plot is on the S. side and gets a lot of sun.


A book also said that inoculant is good with beans too. I have grown beans well before and never used inoculant...but due to my old zone I never grew peas...it was zone HOT! I also can save half my seed package and try a fall crop, which I am SURE I can get the inoculant by then.

What brand of seed do you have that recommends inoculant, & what the heck IS inoculant, anyway?

I've raised both, Peas & Beans for years & years, & the only thing that I do differently from what the seed packet says, is that I sprout mine first, in a wet paper towel inside a baggie & plant the sprout, because they germinate faster that way, & I also don't have to mess around later on, moving plants to the bare spots, to make my rows look nice!

I know that Peas are primarily a cool weather plant, but mine did fine last year, & it got up to 107* for a few weeks! Shading them is probably an excellent idea... I had never thought of doing that, but think I'll try it this year.

Where in Idaho are you? I moved down here to Oregon from NW Montana (Libby) & I'm loving the milder winters, but the heat seems more intense here during the summer. Our growing season is LOTS longer than it was up there & I can grow melons here! I'm just loving it!

I am in the bump of Idaho on the border of oregon. In fact I shop in Ontario Oregon mostly. Its 50 miles

I also have never heard of an innoculant. What is it? We only started our peas a couple of weeks ago so with any luck you are not too late cuz then we may be as well. We do have sprouts already. I suspect you are a wee bit colder than we are here so with any luck all will be well.

That idea about innoculant is way over-rated. You don't need it, but maybe it helps. It's by no means essential. Innoculent means a bacteria that attaches to the roots and helps legumes (beans, peas) fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, "fix" meaning it is taken in by the plant, transported to the roots and "fixed" in little bumpy nodes that grow on the roots. If there is adequate nitrogen in the soil, the plants will do well, the bacteria will still find the roots, but not as abundantly. One reason to innoculate is to get FREE nitrogen from the atmosphere without having to add it. I may be slightly incorrect here, but that is pretty much the case.

Oh, yeah, and by the way, your idea for shading sounds good to me!
I'm simply amazed that we've had a 100 degree day here, followed by mid 90's, and my peas are still blossoming and producing. I think it's because the soil temps aren't as high as they will be in June and July.

Here is a paragraph out of the Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith:

<snip>
Beans and other legumes supply much of their own nitrogen needs through their relationship with certain bacteria that live in their roots. They do a better job at this and produce heavier crops if the seeds are inoculated with Rhizobia bacteria before sowing.
Simply put the black powder containing the bacteria in a bag with the seeds. shake the bag until the seeds are coated, and sow.
<snip>

It was explained to me by a worker at a local nursery that the Rhizobia bacteria helps the most during the first 3 weeks of a legumes life when they are developing the nodes to fix their own nitrogen.

The local nursery was out of inoculant and told me that they would not have anymore until next year. The bacteria in the inoculant has a shelf life of about a year.


So is this clear as mud?

Hey.....I got sidetracked and peppereater was quicker.

(and more thorough I might add)

Thanks for that info. Will have to put that on my list for next season, especially if my peas and beans do not do well.

Thank you, Mator. I will take all the praise I can get!

OK, I'll do it without. I'm already to plant the peas and beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, basil, and zucchini. got lots more work to do.

I used an inoculant this year and am glad as my soil test last fall showed a depletion of nitrogen. However, I have rarely used one in the past and had large quantities of peas and beans.

It should be okay to plant peas now in Idaho. They actually do pretty ok in heat. Mine usually produce around the fourth of July and don't seem to mind the heat and humidity here. (I plant usually in late April) But they do get mildewy after the main harvest and I pull them out. The last few years our hottest days were in June anyway.

I don't know if it's true, but this is interesting-I read somewhere that once you grow legumes in the soil, the soil there from then on will always be inoculated, from the pea plants themselves.
So if that's true, then if you planted the first time without inoculant, and used the same area for successive plantings, you'd have your inoculant.
I read this in the 1970's, and again, I don't know if it's true.

Yes, I understand that's right. And I think that as with most bacteria, there is always some of it present in minute amounts pretty much everywhere. I'm sure it's good to add some innoculant regardless, the first year, but legumes were grown for many centuries without adding it, and I'm sure most people have never even heard of it.
Here's another little fact, which some of you may know. If you plant legumes, leave the plants when they die, and till them in. They provide excellent nitrogen for any crop you want to grow next. Wheat farmers often grow soybeans or other legumes after they harvest the wheat, and turn the plants under to replenish the soil.