AusBonsai

Hi team,

During a repot today I noticed these small “nodules” growing from some of the roots.

Any idea what they are?

It’s not soil.

Hey Daluke,
Maybe do a bit of a search on "root-knot nematodes."?

looks a lot like the nodules of nitrogen fixing bacteria, wait for the pros to confirm or deny

What you have there are rhizobia. Absolutely nothing out of the normal definitely not nematodes.Those small white sacs are known as nodules, and they form on the roots of the legume family (Leguminosae and Fabaceae).
Has your plant ever flowered? If so please post some pictures
Cheers
Kirky

How can you tell the difference between a nematode and a rhizobia @kirky ?

Have I seen it flower? Yeah. It was the strangest thing - there was a flying horse with a horn going by at the same time…

I just searched millettia and the first thing that comes up is they are legumes. Legumes all have the capacity to produce root nodules as homes for rhizobia bacteria that help the plant obtain nitrogen. This is a legume so having root nodules is natural.
Nitrogen nodules are easily detached from the roots and are pink or green inside. Nematode nodules are part of the root so hard to pull off and more woody.

Chances are much higher these are nitrogen fixing nodules just because it is a legume.

https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsh ... es/9429726

around the 3:35 time on the attached link shows a good close-up of a Nitrogen nodule Daluke.
Perhaps you can see similarities in what you have?

Definitely looked more like rhizobia.

They looked almost like seeds or peanuts growing from the roots as opposed to out of it.

Daluke wrote: ↑July 26th, 2021, 10:27 pm Definitely looked more like rhizobia.

They looked almost like seeds or peanuts growing from the roots as opposed to out of it.

They are vital to the plant Luke.
I sowed some acacia seeds last spring. I knew they were not inoculated with the rhizobium because I just used commercial p/mix. I expected they would pick it up after a while. They didn't, and they stayed completely stunted (1 inch tall) all summer so I scraped a bit of soil from under a garden acacia and within about 3 months they were 10 times the size and ready for repotting.
It's ok to remove them if you need to trim roots as long as you leave one or two here and there.