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innoculants. | (Read 968 times) |
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theDave
Posts: 3
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April 17, 2009, 07:14:36 PM |
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Hi everyone!
New to this forum. theDave, Merlin, Oregon. Anyone have any experience using soil innoculants?
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Susan Monroe
Posts: 1093
Western WA
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April 18, 2009, 01:15:50 PM |
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Do you mean legume inoculants, like for peas, beans, clover and tagasaste, etc?
I've used them for peas and beans, as that is the only one available around here (and just barely). But I recently discovered that Peaceful Valley Farm Supply in CA carries more kinds than any place I've seen: http://groworganic.com/browse_seeds.html?sCategory=366
Garden Combination inoculant for Legume Oat Mixes, vetch (except crown vetch), fava beans, bell beans, crotolaria, garden beans, peas, lentils, lima beans, cowpeas, and peanut.) 2 sizes containers
Alfalfa & Clover inoculant
Pea, Vetch and Lentils inoculant
Cowpea, Peanut and Lespedeza inoculant (also suitable for tagasaste, I have read)
Soybean inoculant
Crownvetch inoculant
Sesbania inoculant
Garbanzo bean inoculant
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theDave
Posts: 3
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April 18, 2009, 02:20:36 PM |
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Oh, sorry Susan, I should have been more clear. I am looking for information on soil inoculants. Topsoils here are shallow and lawns are raised mainly on chemical fertilizers. I am researching ways of improving existing soils without total renovation. Thank you for the reply 
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theDave
Posts: 3
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April 20, 2009, 10:25:25 PM |
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Thanks Paulie!
I will check it out. We have something here at the Grange I am going to try also. Can't remember the name. I will post it when I buy it Thursday.
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samiam
Posts: 20
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January 26, 2010, 02:53:46 PM |
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I had found a link on homemade innoculants and I lost it.... bummer...it was from the Korean Natural farming system where you bury a box of steamed rice up in the woods and the mycellium innoculate the rice and then you process it more and innoculate your land with the local stuff which seems better than importing fungi from outside. Does anyone on this site know the recipe? thanks Sam
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Joel Hollingsworth
Posts: 1623
zone 10: Oakland, CA
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January 27, 2010, 03:24:33 AM |
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Samiam:
That sounds incredibly smart.
I've also heard of digging up a few buckets of duff and soil from the nearest (in climate and intended ecosystem, as much as space) wilderness area that can spare it.
The rice trap sounds like it will add much more of some sorts of life, but less (maybe none) of other sorts. Which my intuition says could be useful in a few situations, but not as good most of the time.
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"the qualities of these bacteria, like the heat of the sun, electricity, or the qualities of metals, are part of the storehouse of knowledge of all men. They are manifestations of the laws of nature, free to all men and reserved exclusively to none." SCOTUS, Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kale Inoculant Co.
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Scott Reil
Posts: 167
The Helpful Gardener
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January 27, 2010, 03:19:57 PM |
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LOTS of experience in this arena; I was (up until fairly recently) the corporate trainer for an organic lawn care company.
The very best innoculant for your soil is local compost. Simply putting down innoculums , while they are likely needed is ineffective, as you likely lack sufficient humus in your soil (your mention of chemical fertilizers is a hint, as these do nothing to replace the humus consumed by plants). I rarely saw soils with the minimal 5% we liked; chemically treated lawns are usually in the 2-3% range...
This is important because ALL soil biology lives in humus. Without this important factor, your store bought innoculum are little paratroopers being dropped into hostile enemy territory. They will be able to scrounge for a little while, but without necessary supplies, and surrounded by hostile forces, they are likely doomed... 
A topdressing of compost, on the other hand, supplies a multitudinous variety of organisms (Paul Stamets says the average scoop of good soil contains a variety of species that rivals the entire flora and fauna count of North America, and compost is no different), all native to your area, many of which will directly support your grass, and many that don't will provide direct nutrition through nitrogen amplification (smilingly dubbed the poop loop by Dr. Ingham) and weak acid forces, etching mineral sourcing from the CEC. AND we have seeded this little ecosystem in the ready made housing our humus provides... all contingencies accounted for... 
While your store bought innoculants are not a BAD idea, they are a much better idea once you have supplied habitat and food, and compost is a good way to provide those. Find a reputable supplier you can look in the eye and shake hands with (both mine are local farmers that I have vetted their operation, looked over their product, and even glanced at it under a microscope). Local is alway better, but many bacteria and fungi are circumboreal, so even not so local is better than none. Bagged prodcuts should be avoided for the most part; these are aerobic organisms for the most part, and YOU try breathing in a plastic bag for just a minute and see how you like it  (There are exceptions; some better companies are microprickng bags to increase breathability; Organic Mechanic, Coast of Maine and North Country Organics all fit this bill).
You can get some companies to blow a nice even layer for you, but that is pretty expensive. Simply spreading compost about a quarter to half inch deep, working it in past the crowns of the grass with the back side of a lawn rake, and watering in deeply will get you innoculant (thousands rather than two or three species), humus AND nutrients, all in one package, Not bad, huh?
HG
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Connecticut Accredited Nurseryperson
Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (NOFA)
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jeremiah bailey
Posts: 342
Zone 5b - Central Indiana Suburban Subdivision
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February 06, 2010, 08:03:34 PM |
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samiam: I have heard of using rice as a growing medium for mushrooms before. The conditions were fairly sterilized for keeping a strain pure. The rice was cooked and compressed into jars and sterilized in a pressure canner and then inoculated with mushroom spores. The medium was just regular brown rice. Apparently white rice doesn't work very well. This more of a laboratory type setting, so I imagine just burying cooked brown rice would do the trick. Don't know for how long. Probably a few days to a week would do the trick. Perhaps try doing this throughout the course of a year as different organisms have different life cycles, thus being active at different times during the year.
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"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." - Helen Keller
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Jeremiah Bailey
Central Indiana
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samiam
Posts: 20
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February 06, 2010, 09:43:03 PM |
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thanks Jeremiah... Do you know what to do with it once it is innoculated? spray in on the soil? Sam
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jeremiah bailey
Posts: 342
Zone 5b - Central Indiana Suburban Subdivision
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February 11, 2010, 03:24:57 PM |
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Scott is right on about the different ecosystems bearing different organisms. And I'd just toss the inoculated rice around on the ground that I wanted to inoculate. Perhaps toss some sort of mulch on top of that to keep it shaded and moist. Straw, compost or grass clippings would work.
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"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." - Helen Keller
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Jeremiah Bailey
Central Indiana
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Seth Pogue
Posts: 81
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May 11, 2010, 01:57:01 PM |
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An excellent innoculant is EM-1:
These guys are the best I know of.
http://www.emamerica.com/
Open to learn of better if anyone knows.
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