According to a bit I found online, there are two basic inoculants, Rhizobium for legumes and Frankia for plants like goumi, birch, oleaster, buckthorn and casuarina families. [http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/permaculture/2003-January/017513.html]

Since the Rhizobium is broken down into useful groups for specific legumes, I wonder if the Frankia are, also? But then I read this article http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/426.pdf and it seems that the Frankia is much more difficult to grow than the Rhizobium.

I looked around to see if there is such a thing as a source for Frankia, and don't see anything. Since alder forests are natural sources of it, I wonder if it could be collected from the soil around the roots?

Sue

sirgreenchuck,

I can't answer for sure, but I've never heard of any innoculate for nitrogen fixing shrubs.

I have Sweet goumi, Sea Buckthorn, Siberian Pea shrub,Autumn Olive, etc..They all produce very well with out any innoculant added.

I also have a blanket of clover and comfrey around all my trees and bushes.

Sweet Goumi

Comfrey
{{gwi:1140836}}

Clover

2006 photos

I broadcast another 10 pounds of clover in my orchard last fall. Hoping it will take off this spring.

Eric

Very nice, Eric!

Rhizobium is natural to begin with, even though you can buy packages of it, so I wonder if the plants create their own Frankia, or if it's so common in the soil that the plants can find it nearly everywhere?

The internet is great, but it STILL doesn't have all the answers.

Sue

>I wonder if the plants create their own Frankia

Definitely not.

>or if it's so common in the soil that the plants can find it nearly everywhere?

This is the impression I have gotten from the reading I have done, but I've never found a really comprehensive answer.

Alex

This is a great question -- and a considerable frustration.

I think the answer is that if you haven't previously grown the innoculant you need in a particular area, and your plant doesn't come pre-innoculated, then you need to import an innoculant. There are at least 30+ rhizobia alone and they are, as you know, plant specific but, at least with common legumes, you can generally find the bacteria you need (but not always -- I couldn't find the innoculant for crown vetch). With the nitro fixing shrubs and trees the documentation on what innoculant is needed for what plant the available information is about zero ... and the availability of suitable innoculant is scarcely better.

FYI, I planted a number of eleganeus trees and shrubs (including seaberry and russian olive) and they are growing very slowly. I strongly suspect their mediocre growth is because they lack the necessary nitro fixing bacteria, as I otherwise can't explain that they grow ... but but very impressively and certainly not enough to contribute meaningfully to organic matter.

I'm sorry I don't have a more helpful answer, but at least discussing this problem might encourage someone who knows they have innoculated roots to help spread the proper innoculant?

I have tried to find an answer to this question as well without anymore success than the above posters. Has anyone found a source for innoculants for nitrogen fixing shrubs and trees in the few years since this was posted? I've been looking for my Autumn Olives

im really glad i read this thread.
i have a few autumn olive seeds i had never planted.
i heard they tasted bad, i think, from somewhere ?

Anyway, just read they are very tasty, and now i want to plant them, especially since they fix N

I was thinking since there are several plants that benefit from Mycorrhizae, but dont really need them, AO might be one.

Like my Papaya, ---
Thirteen species of AM fungi belonging to the genera Acaulospora, Glomus, Gigaspora and
Destiscutata were found to be associated with varieties of papaya.
---------------

while it seems Glomus mosseae does a better job if by itself, than with others.
in one study, non-inoculated papaya had 4 to 9 species found.

i bought a broad-band inoculant that had GM for my Papaya.
maybe you can use the same ?

the link below may help.
i found a study that talks about Mycorrhizae and Autumn Olive.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growth Performances and Mycorrhizae of Native and Exotic Hardwoods on Bituminous Stripmine Spoils