I bought some Elaeagnus in pots from a very knowledgeable food-plant nurseryman, and he didn't say a word about it. Your post here is the very first I've heard of Frankia. You might contact my nursery guy and ask.

What IS Frankia, anyway?

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Burnt Ridge Nursery

I posted similar requests to the fruit and tree forums (as well as this forum), and no one was able to list a source. Some people said Frankia is so common that you don't need to worry, but I am a bit skeptical.

I ordered a bareroot Goumi from Raintree this spring, and it had plenty of visible nodules. I also got two bareroot Sea Buckthorn, and there were no visible nodules, but there were no fine roots to speak of on those. I will probably dig up a small section of roots on one of those in a couple years to see if nodules have formed.

Sue, Frankia is a bacteria that forms a symbiotic relationship with the roots of Elaeagnus, and fixes nitrogen. Elaeagnus can not fix nitrogen without Frankia.

Alex

I just checked, the thread I started is titled "inoculating N-fixing trees/shrubs", it's still on the first page of messages.

>Your post here is the very first I've heard of Frankia.

Sue, you actually participated in that previous thread. I guess you didn't see my response to your post there.

Alex

Alex: you are PRESUMING to think that I remember everything I read and type! To do that, I would have to get rid of a lot of stuff that is stuck in my brain, like the theme songs to Gilligan's Island and the Beverly Hillbillies, plus a lot of other totally useless stuff. But you just can't hit DELETE, you know.

Anyway, I found that the Frankia (of which there only seems to be one species) is also closely associated with Alder trees. Here in the PNW, we've got a ton of alder.

And, since the Frankia bacteria creates nodules on the roots, I am going to decant my goumi, wash off the soil (into a container) and see if there are nodules on the roots.

And I still would swear that I've never heard of Frankia....

Sue

Thanks, everybody, for your input. Here's an update...

I planted the Elaeagnus plants this past weekend. These included 9 autumn olives, 4 guomis, and 1 Elaeagnus x ebbingei. I had kept these plants in pots until I was ready to place them in the ground.

The autumn olives are very small (7") so it didn't surprise me when I saw no nodules on their roots.

However, much to my delight, 2 of the four goumi plants DID have nodules. I don't believe this could have come from the potting soil so they must have be some residual bacteria left on the roots (bought these from Burnt Ridge nursery, BTW).

I didn't remember to check the Elaeagnus x ebbingei for nodules.

Before I planted my plants, I did something I guess most individuals would think is strange... I noticed near my place of work that a neighboring office building had several established Elaeagnus x ebbingei shrubs near a walk way.

Trying not to look too suspicious, I was able to stick my hand below one of the shrub's soil and retrieve part of a root. And you guessed it, filled with nodules.

Upon discovering this, I filled a plastic bag with some soil from under the shrubs. I figured that it must have strains Frankia if the surrounding Elaeagnus x ebbingei roots have nodules.

When I planted this past weekend, I placed portions of the retrieved soil around my plant's roots. Hopefully, it will "take".

First we start stealing seeds, then plants, now soil.

We're dangerous... we're dangerous....

Sue

Ahhh...the old soil swiping trick. I am a big fan of it. Besides innoculating your soil with the N-fixing bacteria, healthy soils are filled with mycorrhrizal fungi that further aide in the development of healthy plants. I am always on the lookout for healthy soils to innoculate my plants. Next time your going for a hike remember to bring some bags and a digging implement of some sort.