Week 49 - Bed DD7

We finally cleared the old pea plants out of this bed and failed to find any nitrogen fixing nodules on the roots. It is possible that any nodules that formed had fallen off when the plants died, but we suspect that the specific bacteria that form these beneficial nodules are not in this soil. This field contains many clover plants which have the nodules, but it is a different but species which forms the symbiotic relationship with plants from the bean and pea family.

This absence would make sense, given that peas and beans probably have not been grown in this field for many decades. The lack of this extra source of nitrogen probably reduced the yield of the peas. We will have investigate how to inoculate the soil before the next sowing of peas and beans.