Germination and Early Plant Growth Promotion of Cool- and Warm-Season Turf Grasses Inoculated with Microbial Consortia.

Inoculation of agronomically-important crops with species of rhizobia and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been reported to increase the yield, through a variety of mechanisms including improved nutrient bioavailability and acquisition. Inocucor Technologies Inc. has developed a multispecies microbial consortium, IN-M1 (ATCC PTA12383), fermented in a probiotic nutrient formulation. The bacterial strains of IN-M1 were selected based on the presence of one (or more) activity for the breakdown of organic matter/compound substrates. This property may enable the reduction of chemical inputs (P, N and synthesized chemical products) and enhance plant growth thereby improving the sustainable management of crop production. The objectives of this research were to: 1) determine if IN-M1 increases germination and early growth of individual and mixtures of turf grasses, 2) recommend which soil characteristics are optimal for turf grass growth using IN-M1 formulation. Soil (St Amable loamy sand, Chateauguay clay loam, Chicot fine loam, and Bearbrook clay) and soilless Petri plate assays will be conducted to determine the effects of the IN-M1 consortium on germination of cool- and warm-season turf grasses and mixtures in a growth chamber. Seeds will be surface sterilized, imbibed in the IN-M1 formulation, chilled at 4 °C prior to incubation following the protocol for grass germination testing from the Association of Official Seed Analysts. Early growth experiments will be conducted in growth chambers using the above soil types. Plants will be harvested 4 to 6 weeks after inoculation. Two-way ANOVAs will be performed on measurements of fresh and dry weights of shoots, roots and total per plant biomass, root length, shoot height, and number of tillers. Redundancy analysis will be used to determine best soil characteristics for germination and early plant growth when using the IN-M1 formulation.