Rhizobia for Cowpea - Pidgeeon pea innoculant for nitrogen fixing

[Donna]

Apparently to ensure that the pigeon pea that I want to plant around my garden need to be innoculated so that the nitrogen fixing benefit can be produced.

The website I was reading indicated that these rhizobia occurs naturally in the soil but only where the plant orignated from and I am pretty sure that there are no Australian native legumes... would it be correct to assume that there isn't any in my soil already for cowpea legumes?

If I want the nitrogen fixing ability of a legume do I always need to innoculate, or does using legumes as green manure negate the necessity of using an innoculant?

And last of all, if I do need to buy this innoculant, where do I source it from - a very quick google search didn't turn up anything...

[Florence]

I've asked a couple of produce store, and the seed sellers at a couple of garden expo, but no one sold them... I'd like to know if you found any place.

btw, I believe Wattles are legumes.... might need to confirm that though...

[Vanessa Thompson (pomare)]

www.greenharcest.com.au
got there magazine sent in the mail for free and im just reading your post and thought, ive seen those lovely big words in their magazine. (its an australian organic gardning supplies)
Legume and inoculate seeds are all under the title of green maures in mag. They got warm season manures and cool season manures.

[Donna]

Thanks Vanessa, I have emailed them (and another company) to ask if they just sell the inoculant separately as I already have the seeds - or if they know where to get it from on its own.

Also from what I understand there are different types of inoculant required for different legumes so specifically looking for one suitable for cowpea as I have read the pidgeon pea is a really good permaculture plant. The definition of a good 'permaculture' plant is one that has multiple uses. Pidgeon pea fixes the nitrogen in the soil, can be used for human and/ or animal consumption, grows into a shrub that can be used to shade other plants under it (lives for about 5 years), prunings use as mulch, as a trellis (plant a tomato with it and let the tomato grow into the bush and when it has finished cut them both down and use as compost) and also the wood to build a hot cooking fire...

[Mick Porter]

I've only ever used the inoculants from Green Harvest, and I don't know the chances of Pigeon Pea-compatible rhizobium being in the soil. My plan with this garden is to use cassia, pigeon pea, crotalaria and a few different wattles - going to try them out without adding any inoculant.

Yes, there certainly are Aussie native legumes - the acacia/wattle family being the most prominent. Lots of other legume trees grow around Brisbane - you can see cassia, leucaena, tipuana tipu etc. all over the place (some such as tipuana considered weeds).

The primary commercial source of inoculant as I understand it, is this mob, Becker Underwood:
http://www.beckerunderwood.com/en/home

I doubt they sell small quantities for home gardens though.

[Donna]

Well Green Harvest were prompt - they don't sell it separately but suggested a farm supplies outlet so will try down that track when I get a bit of spare time.

[Elaine de Saxe]

Donna, I have never used an inoculant. The results have been acceptable for the green beans, climbing peas, wattles, clovers, soy beans, mung beans that I have grown over the years. Maybe commercially the yields are expected to be better but from where I sit, I'd give your ground a go and see what happens. If you can use compost of any sort, there should be enough soil activity to grow what you want to grow. Give the simple solution a whirl first!

[Jacqui P]

Donna, As I understand it, the first time you plant a new nitrogen fixing plant, it should be accompanied by the innoculant, in case your soil doesn't have the particular version that the plant needs. Once it's in the soil it stays there. Using legumes as green manure is simply a way of saying the plant fixes its own nitrogen in the soil - if the soil has the particular rhizomes it needs. There isn't any way to tell as far as I know, except to look at the roots to see if they have those little white nitrogen fixing nodules on them. We have heaps of pigeon pea plants at the Community Garden in West End, where we've been growing them for at least 8 years. We usually sell them as plants, along with the soil they've been growing in, so they should come with a supply of the rhizomes they need. We're happy to give you a plant & some soil for a small donation if you drop into the garden some time.

[Cassandra]

Hi Donna,
My dad rotates his crops and uses cow pea. he does not innoculate them and still uses them as a nitrogen fixer. i couldn't find anything in my books about it. they just said to use a mung beans or cowpeas or pidgeon pea or other legumes to fix nitrogen. i wouldn't bother, i think the legumes do a good job on their own.
Cass

[Florence]

oh.. I forgot to mention this ~ I was asking around for innoculant at the BOGI fair,although a couple of people had them but didn't bring them to the fair. It was very nice of Alf (I think that was his name) from Eden seeds that he offered to send some to me and I recieved it within a few days. What I asked for was for pigeon peas, but I've read that they are the same for cow peas, and snake beans... unfortunately I don't have enough to share around...

I may get some green manure from them nearing autumn, so I may get enough to share then hopefully..