Never mind. The very next link had a list of inoculum for different plant types.

Martha

Mom, good on you for finding what you need, but I was going to say, you likely don't need the inoculant to get plants started. And further, those things tend to be floating around in the air anyway. but you've got what you need.

+oM

Camp, you may find my repost here tedious and annoying, but in reality, rhizobium bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi are two very different entities. Related only in that they are both soil microbes, and both work with plants to either secure nutrients from the soil (mycorrhizae) or pull it straight from the air (that's in the soil) but otherwise in no way related.

All that said, I think your main point to be correct-the soil from around existing plants should have the items in it.

+oM

Not at all, Tom - I am always keen to learn something new and useful. In truth, I found the plant science on my hort.course to be horribly bewildering (still very vague about cations, anions, plant nutrients in general, botany, and vast swathes of soil science) so I never mind being corrected or advised or proved wrong - I am an experimental gardener...which usually means high rates of attrition - after murdering insane numbers of innocent plants, I have no pride whatsoever.

Haha...funny stuff. Me, it seems I can geek out endlessly on such matters, but am usually in a merciful mood on these boards. Well, not always I guess; In response to some poor sweet retiree on the Florida Gardening board, who merely wanted to know how to trim here Hong Kong orchid tree, I'm afraid I may have scared away half the membership with my technical descriptions of auxins, plant responses to branch removal, and so on! When I peek back there later, can't help but wonder what havoc I hath wrought1

+oM

+oM,

It is hard to find the perfect balance between providing interesting, educational information, and keeping the forums light and friendly. I'm a scientist at heart, and I love the scientific miracles that gardening provides on a daily basis. So, the more detail provided by "experts" like you, the better. If it is more than someone else wants to deal with, they don't have to read it.

Martha

Here here. If you can't be yourself then what good is it. I am pretty sure there are people who are close to upchucking if I mention prairies and grasses one more time.

Last fall I sowed an unknown kind of astragalus seed sent to me from a friend in New Mexico. I don't know exactly which kind, some sort of spotted milkvetch that blooms purple in spring and gets large inflated speckled seed pods. Based on looking at many types in photos I think its Astragalus lentiginosus (Spotted locoweed). I received several pods, each full of seeds. None came up. Reading this thread, I'm now wondering if they need an inoculant of some kind? I tried sowing some more the other day but still have some left in storage. Can you pick this stuff up locally, I mean is it a common item at a nursery or do I need to order from a seed source online?

If it is seed you have collected, it is worth taking a bit of local soil at the same time...everything is connected and as well as growing in plant communities (left to their own devices) as you know, there is a whole interconnected ecology of micro-organisms. Even adding some live soil from an unimproved meadow or around a mature tree often increases germination of some recalcitrant seeds - it's an easier way of growing seeds than messing around with gibberellins, peroxides, sandpaper, heatmats, for this negligent gardener. I have an experimental nursery bed in the woods where I can sow the seeds directly into the ground but still be able to keep track (especially if real cash money has been grudgingly spent on measly commercial packets of seed). In truth though, the single biggest difference to seed sowing success for me was using fresh seeds - either collected or traded - it is only desperation now which causes me to buy seeds which have an unknown provenance.

Here in the UK, specific inoculants are not available afaik...but granular arbuscular myccorhizae has been available for a long time...but I always thought that had to be applied directly to the roots - simply adding it to the soil was no help and I am not sure it would be useful for seeds...but having said that, merchants will sell anything - I have seen packets being sold now to add to vegetable seeds (veggies ffs) and even potatos ...but this, I think, is mainly for the gullible.

Texasranger, I can't help answer your question. I would try calling a reputable nursery or native plant producer and ask them if they have any suggestions.

Martha

Prairie Moon carries seeds of several Astragalus species, and includes an inoculant that they call "genus-specific". So you could order a packet of something like this and try the inoculant with your A. lentiginosus:

https://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds/wildflowers-forbs/astragalus-bisulcatus-two-grooved-milk-vetch.html

TX, I had 100% germination (or close to it) of that same seed from NM. I nicked the corner, soaked it and grew it in a granitic sandy soil that had some compost (not much). ALL died in the wet spring that followed.Interesting about the inoculant.

I have had great success germinating baptisia seeds from trade. Just pour hot water over the seeds, and soak them until each one starts to swell and show a little tap root. Pick those out and plant directly in the garden. From the same batch some germinated in 3 days and the last ones after 2 weeks. Change water every few days.

I'll spare you folks the full-on blather that is my take on mycorrhizal associates, etc. but did want to relay just one tidbit I gleaned recently in some scholarly tome: Evidence has mounted that not only do trees in the forest of the same species share resources via this hyphal network of mutualistic fungi, but even between different species and genera, the same appears to be happening! I find this just overwhelmingly interesting, and it is a nice antidote to those who view nature as pure competition. That is surely a part of it but I think by the time we're done exploring, it may well be that these cooperative arrangements have greater overall impact than do the competitive relationships between plants, species, and so on.

+oM

You can make it yourself (mycorrhizal inoculant) - I am hopeless at doing links but you can check out Sunseed Desert Technology in Almeria, Spain, or access through research-gate.net/publication/269510910- Use of a mixed mycorrhizal inoculum and compost in growing organic maize. Just using arbuscular fungi collected from around the base of a number of mature trees (birch are very good) and using initially to grow a cereal crop which concentrates the growth of the hyphae, you can create a rich living substrate which has value for a wide range of different plants.

http://www.gardenmyths.com/mycorrhizae-fungi-inoculant-products/

Ah yes, I have been for and against the idea of commercial inoculums but I have to say, this article is a tad simplistic and quick to dismiss soil science which is still largely in its infancy. In fact, AM (arbuscular mycorrhizae have been found to be effective with a far wider number of species than was initially thought likely and while I agree that most mature soils should already have a network of hyphae, not all of us have nice native soil - for containers, this is often a lifesaver...and I am seeing a use in germination (in sterile seedling mixes) as well. As with all things, this is not a universal panaceae but Pavlis, the author, not unreasonably, is cautioning us not to spend money unnecessarily but more research is needed before concluding that it is a waste of money - commercial granules might be, but mycorrhizae , as an intermediary between plants and their environment, is proving as crucial to plant health as the soil, the water, the sunlight and should not be dismissed as just an industry scam.

Gotta run-busy day-but just wanted to pop in and say, as a student of mycorrhizal associates, I have recently learned that indeed, there are some generalist fungi that do indeed work across a spectrum of plant species, albeit within the same genus I believe. Still, that's more crossing over than I had previously believed to be the case.

+oM