I get a handful of beans (or however many I'm planting), rub them with a few drops of water, and then shake them in a dish with a little inoculant. This coats them very well. It's sort of like Shake n Bake for beans!

As to the Garden Combination, that's what I've got. I don't know if it'll do all the legumes you're planting or not, but Johnny's responded very quickly when I sent them an email asking about their inoculant.

Thanks, fliptx. Sounds pretty easy! Johnny's responded quickly and informatively. Turns out I need a few kinds of inoculant, and they're special-ordering the ones they don't carry.

Can someone tell us a bit about inoculants? I had never come across the notion before looking at Gardenweb forums. My UK gardening books and seed packets do not mention them at all and I have grown fava, string and runner beans and peas for years. Are they needed in all US soils? Are they really necessary or is someone trying to make money out of gardeners by persuading them that they must have inoculants?

Flora, those are good questions. I have been trying to organize an experiment this summer, to determine just how effective inoculants really are (see the Garden Experiments forum). So far, not many have volunteered to participate. The idea was batted around on another thread in the Bean Forum (see link), but I may start another one shortly, dedicated to just that issue.

Regardless, I will be running my own experiment this year. I grow a lot of legumes, and have always used inoculants. For years, my bean, pea, lima, soybean, and cowpea plants have done well, and I would like to believe that the inoculants I used played a role in that. But without comparing results from plants grown _without_ inoculants, there is no way to be sure... and if my experiments demonstrate little difference between the two, then inoculants would not be worth the substantial amount that I pay for them each year.

There was a good discussion of inoculants on the thread below, where the experiment was first proposed.

Basically, every legume has a unique symbiotic bacteria that can colonize its roots. The bacteria take nutrients from the plant, and in return, convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form the plant can use (the process is referred to as "fixing nitrogen"). If there are enough colonies (nodules) on the roots, they can supply enough nitrogen for the plant's needs.

The manufacturers often combine cultures for the most popular (beans, peas, limas, runner beans) into a "garden combo". Other legumes require their own special formula, such as soybeans, garbanzos, peanuts, and cowpeas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Granulated inoculant

The nitrogen fixing odules are just taken for granted in UK gardening books as something that will occur naturally without any intervention from the gardener. For this reason it is often recommended to follow a legume crop with a brassica to utilise the nitrogen left in the ground from the roots. I'd be interested to hear how your experiment turns out. I'm not even sure where I'd buy inoculant to try the experiment myself. I was in a large, and very good, garden centre today. No inoculants but plenty of bean and pea seed.

does anyone have a pic of root nodules from their beans,say Kentucky Wonder?
If I have beans and eggplants growing together will the ep's get N from the beans?

No, Gary, the eggplant will get no nitrogen from the beans this year. While the beans are growing, the nodules supply N only to the plants they colonize. When those plants die, the nitrogen bound by the nodules is released into the soil, where it is available to whatever is grown in that location the following year. For that reason, it is good practice to follow legumes with N-hungry vegetables like corn.

Last year, I had very large nodules on my yardlong beans - but didn't photograph them. I hope to post photos this year, as part of my inoculant experiment.

I buy the stuff and half the time I forget to use it...My parents gardened their whole life and beans and peas were always a staple in the garden. They never ever ever added the stuff to their seeds...so it's not a big deal to me...I usually grit my teeth and buy some every year, just to get any edge that it offers...but the cost of gardening these days, or at least my garden is outrageous so it is a good thing that I do it for enjoyment or because gardening is in my blood and not because I'm being thrifty...whoooooee that's a joke...gardens are expensive...

Hey Ruthie - I have to take issue with that. Gardening must be one of the cheapest hobbies around. This year I have bought a few packets of seed and that is all. What are you spending so much money on?

It's my understanding you probably don't need an inoculant if beans have been grown in that location before as the inoculant remains in the soil from previous years of growth.