Inoculants

[redback]

There isn't enough organic seed for the farmers changing over to Regen Ag. They have to reeducate the seed to accept organic inputs instead of the chemical inputs they were bred to anticipate.
Some farmers have set up inoculant brewing operations. They have what looks like stainless steel silos with the initial brew of lactose, sugar, yeast and water. Then they have the fertilizer components stored in a series of smaller vats. These fertilizers include minerals (iron, calcium) and concentrates of worm wee, compost tea and mycorrhizal fungi. The fertilizers are added to the lactose brew and then continuously aerated until ready for use. The seed are soaked in it prior to planting. The seed themselves are the main source of microbes in the soil with each seed bringing a million microbes with it when planted.
Does anyone here use inoculants?

 

[Meadowlark]

Does anyone here use inoculants?

Yes, absolutely. Most of the seed I purchase for soil building is already inoculated. However, some legumes that are commonly used in gardens are not, e.g. cow peas, beans, etc. For those I purchase the precise Rhizobial species commonly found in commercially available inoculants and the legume species with which they form symbiotic relationships.

I feel it is very important if you are using the legume or whatever to build soil that the seed is properly inoculated. Using the correct inoculant will maximize nitrogen fixation. Seed suppliers should provide the correct inoculant for each type of legume seed they sell...but sometimes they don't, and online tables provide the needed information on symbiotic relationships.

I have had some difficulty in determining exactly how much of a particular element e.g. nitrogen is added with each cover crop. I have, however, confirmed examples of addition of 45 to 110 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Interestingly, I have found that Green Manure i.e. turning the legume into the soil while still green is the single most powerful approach to maximize that nitrogen fixing and soil replenishment in general. I'm looking forward to incorporating a refractometer into my future studies to get Brix measurements which can aid my research.

But as to the original question, yes, I inoculate and believe it is very important to effective soil building with cover crops.

 

[redback]

Thanks for the reply.
I have only just discovered this form of seed treatment. It requires further investigation since it obviously has gained rapid acceptance amongst growers. The brewing bit is interesting because brewers yeast is high in nutrients.

 

[redback]

Some inoculant brews are just aerated compost tea. The trouble is cleaning the water of problem bacteria. You add chlorine and you kill the bacteria you were hoping to breed. Because the brew container is airtight to prevent bacteria entering, the tea has to be aerated because the bacteria are breeding fast and need to breathe. If its winter outside the brew has to be warmed. Finally, the brew has to be used promptly once aeration has stopped.
I could make a small batch in the old aquarium. A lactose, sugar and yeast 20 liter brew - add the tea, seaweed and worm juice and see if it froths up. Not today.

 

[redback]

The microbes in the soil originate from seeds. A barley seed contains 9 billion microbes. The seed contains - plant DNA, energy and nutrients and microbial DNA. The seed microbes include - bacteria, archaea, fungi and protists.
When the seed is planted some of the microbes leave the seed and do a geotropic survey and then send signals back to the seed telling of the surrounding conditions. Hot, wet, cold, type of soil and the existing soil microbial conditions. If the seed surface has been cleaned these scouting microbes are lost and the seed no longer responds to gravity and could grow upside down.
When the seed starts to grow its first root (radical) releases the remaining microbes into the soil and they form the 'rhizosphere' around the root. This is where the microbes feed on the root exudates and where they in turn feed the roots. If you apply chemical fertilizers at this stage 90% of this rhizosphere is killed.
If the seed supplier is selling coated seed don't buy. Most forms of coating, N, P, K fertilizers, fungicides or insecticides, when placed near an emerging seed, will inhibit the formation of an effective rhizosphere microbiome.
When the seeds are inoculated something has been introduced to the seeds surface and this in turn predicts how the seed will respond to the conditions it meets. Bio-stimulants like lacto-bacillus and organic brews are excellent but many of the coatings are extremely dangerous to the soil, to the environment and to you.
Bear this in mind when collecting your own seed because the children of chemically coated seed will be suspect, and not fully capable of thriving in an organic soil.

 

[NigelJ]

The microbes in the soil originate from seeds.

Given that bacteria, fungi, algae, lichen, mosses and ferns all predate any form of seed bearing plant ( spermatophytes and gymnosperms). I think you may be mistaken; would be interested to see any peer reviewed scientific evidence you have for this.

When the seed is planted some of the microbes leave the seed and do a geotropic survey and then send signals back to the seed telling of the surrounding conditions. Hot, wet, cold, type of soil and the existing soil microbial conditions. If the seed surface has been cleaned these scouting microbes are lost and the seed no longer responds to gravity and could grow upside down.

Again do you have any peer reviewed scientific evidence to support this statement as it flies in the face of most of what I have learnt over the years.

 

[redback]

Given that bacteria, fungi, algae, lichen, mosses and ferns all predate any form of seed bearing plant ( spermatophytes and gymnosperms). I think you may be mistaken; would be interested to see any peer reviewed scientific evidence you have for this.

Again do you have any peer reviewed scientific evidence to support this statement as it flies in the face of most of what I have learnt over the years.

Good question - try -
RAMP CH Guest Lecturer Christine jones Regen. Ag.
A YouTube lecture about an hour-long plus question time.

 

[redback]

My inoculants have gone mouldy. I need to tip them out to be safe and avoid any detrimental bacteria. I have a spot of weeds that should absorbs the shock. I will test it.

 

[DirtMechanic]

My inoculants have gone mouldy. I need to tip them out to be safe and avoid any detrimental bacteria. I have a spot of weeds that should absorbs the shock. I will test it.

Put them in some whipping cream or flour and water and see what they make into. Redback creme fraiche' or redback sourdough starter?

 

[redback]

I'm new to this microbiome medicine for plants. I have learnt they should be stored in black containers. I've just stacked an entire compost bin to overfull with weeds - both mown and unmown. I am thinking of using redback's liquid mold on that heap. Water is already beginning to get scarce. I rely on rain to dampen the compost and the expected rain didn't come today - but the dry north wind did.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I'm new to this microbiome medicine for plants. I have learnt they should be stored in black containers. I've just stacked an entire compost bin to overfull with weeds - both mown and unmown. I am thinking of using redback's liquid mold on that heap. Water is already beginning to get scarce. I rely on rain to dampen the compost and the expected rain didn't come today - but the dry north wind did.

Put sugar in the mix, with water. Wet is key though. Why do you call it bio medicine? Do you have a target in mind? A particular problem?

 

[redback]

Put them in some whipping cream or flour and water and see what they make into. Redback creme fraiche' or redback sourdough starter?

You ask why I call them medicine? They are medicine because the microbes greatly improve the nutrient levels in the plants they feed (and get fed by). Lack of nutrients in our diet will cause all the auto-immune problems - autism, arthritis, stroke, dementia, diabetes and more.
There is sugar and molasses in these aging mixtures. It's easy to make a lacto-bacillus mixture and it will last all season because of dilution rates (1:100) and the molasses. It doesn't like being exposed to light - thus my inclination to dump the old, exposed ones onto the compost.