I often plant legumes on the potato beds, so during harvest I inadvertently pry and dig up some of them. This happens from year to year. When the plant is on the ground, small lumps can be seen on the bare roots. They are scattered throughout the root system and vaguely resemble ant larvae.
Fortunately, they have nothing to do with insects - they are pests. These lumps are small nodules formed by nitrogen-fixing bacteria. They are most commonly seen on the roots of popular legumes such as beans and peas.
Under conditions of nitrogen deficiency, plants form a symbiotic relationship with nodule bacteria. They reduce atmospheric nitrogen to ammonium, which is further assimilated and incorporated into organic compounds. In this case, a number of important substances such as amino acids, nucleotides, vitamins and phytohormones are formed.
Simply put, bacteria that live and multiply in nodules convert nitrogen inaccessible to plants into an easily assimilable form. This reduces the need for nitrogen fertilizers, making the soil more nutritious and fertile.
However, you should not rejoice at the appearance of root nodules. Their presence speaks of nitrogen starvation and a decrease in soil fertility. The thing is that with a sufficient content of available forms of nitrogen, plants do not form symbiosis with nodule bacteria. Such associations become impractical.
Therefore, when nodules appear, it is worth thinking about applying nitrogen fertilizers or large-scale planting of legumes to restore the soil.
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