I am one of those who has tried innoculants with minimal results, so I am curently in the never category.
English peas, I may in a new field, incorporate a bit of fertilizer (5-10-10) at soil prep. Usually tho I am following a fertized crop so no additional fertizer.
Southern peas are planted with out fertilizer and then given one sidedressing of 5-10-15 at first cultivation. That is mainly because I plant southern peas on the poorest land I can find. They do not respond weel to over fertilization. The other crops that I side dress are corn and watermelons.

I conducted a trial of inoculated vs. un-inoculated legumes several years back (you can find the results on this forum). The only legume that showed any benefit from annual application in my soil & climate was cowpeas/yardlongs, where the inoculated plants were noticeably more vigorous. It may be that the symbiotic bacteria for cowpeas is unable to survive my climate; in the South, it may over-winter.

In most cases, the nodule-forming bacteria for beans & peas is already present in the soil. However, there is a gap of several weeks between the consumption of the seed's stored energy, and full function of the nodules. All beans & peas can benefit from an initial light fertilizer application during this period... but it is usually unnecessary. Excessive N can actually reduce bean & pea yield (note the low N in Farmerdilla's recommendation).

farmerdilla, what great pictures. Now you've got me mad, and hungry. all that lush greenery and those beautiful pods..wow. I could just reach in that top picture and grab that fat pod and eat it right in the garden. I hope just some of my crops look that good this coming summer. I'm trying to plant some peas but its really been wet and cold and windy here..I know i'm impatient but I want to get something growing..steve

So it appears that inoculants are needed rarely if ever, but a light fertilization could benefit (all?) legumes after they've germinated and have begun to grow.

I hadn't thought about inoculating my cowpeas but maybe I will this year since they'll be growing where corn grew.

Never. I hadn't even heard of it until I started visiting these forums. It is not something gardeners over here use and I've never seen it in my local garden centres. I believe it is sometimes used by commercial farmers.

Well, I usually use it. I figure it does not cost much and can't hurt, might help.

I used it when I first started gardening and then stopped. It didn't seem to make a difference. I'm skeptical since there are plenty of wild legumes that grow around here (from bluebonnets to rattlebush to acacias), and nobody's innoculating them, right?

It didn't occur to me until I read zeedman's post that nodule bacteria might be species-specific.

Maybe it depends on your soil. My beans are doing fine without it.

Well, I generally advise if you are planting a legume in an area that has not had legumes growing in it before then you should inoculate. Though this application only needs to be done once. After that the bacteria will be in the soil for years. I would suggest a peat based inoculant. Maybe NDure garden blend which has the following bacteria: bradyrhizobium japonicum, Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar phaseoli and Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viceae. It is available online from many sources and will cost anywhere from $3.00 to $5.00 a bag (depending on the size of the bag you get). Using the peat based means you will inoculate the seed directly before you plant it.

A side dressing of fertilizer (after seeds have vegetative growth to avoid fertilizer burn on your seeds) is a good idea. And as seed is setting, if you are having yellowing or poor seed set, you can apply again. Since peas fix their own nitrogen (if bacteria is present) then in general you do not need to apply nitrogen. Potassium and Phosphate would work well. So maybe, as with the cowpwea, a fertilizer that is 0-5-10 would suffice.

Hope this helps!

A source of general purpose innoculant

If you only need to use innoculant the first time, will it be effective when you rotate your legumes in subsequent years? My garden is 45'x45'. I might plant beans 40' or more from where they were the previous year. Can I assume it will permeate the whole garden area?

Egg, that's another reason I use it every time. I move my beans around too.

Egganddart49,

Considering you are only moving your beans 40' it would be safe to say the bacteria is present throughout your garden. It only takes the Rhizobiums 6-8 hours to double in size. So and inoculant such as NDure (INTX Microbials) will contain a minimum of 200 million viable bacterial cells. Double that in 6 hours, then double again in the next 6, etc... and you have quite a bacterial colony growing in your space.

I applaud you for your rotation, and everyone else out there in Garden Web land who does it as well. The bacteria will fix more nitrogen than the legume plant can use. Therefore the excess nitrogen is left in the soil. So, planting something such as corn in the area you previously had beans means you will use less nitrogen on your corn because it will need less.

Those who use innoculant; I saw a reply that mentioned it may be beneficial even after peas germinate up to 3 or 4 inches. What about 2 feet? My peas are not doing well this year and a fellow gardener swears her peas do better when she adds inoculate about 1/2 way through their growth, before they flower. Any knowledge on if this could really be helpful, or just wishful thinking on her part? I thought inoculate was to get them going, then didn't have much value.

I use it heavily on the seed,probably a pound or so
When the plants have finished you can dig them up and if there are nodules on the roots that readily fall off if brushed,they have been inoculated
If the nodules are cut or squished a blood red substance will ooze out
If there are bumps on the roots that are imbedde,you have nemododes and ypu may want to plant corn there next year
Charlie

I used to use it all the time, until several people on here said "you silly girl", and I quit using it. I'm not sure it makes any difference. This is fine with me, since its just one less thing to use.

The only problem I have is getting to them to pick when I use inoculante
These butter beans are well over 12'
Charlie