Experiments were carried out to study the effect of distillery sludge amendments with garden soil (10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%) on seed germination and growth parameters of Phaseolus mungo L. Germination percentage and index values decreased with rise in sludge concentration. Soil amended with 10% (w/w) sludge showed favorable growth while >10% was inhibitory for plant growth. Soil amended with 10% (w/w) distillery sludge induced the growth in root length, shoot length, number of leaves, biomass, photosynthetic pigment, protein and starch while 20% (w/w) sludge amended soil had variable effects on the root, shoot, leaves and nodules of P. mungo L. At concentrations (>40%) reduced all the growth parameters, viz., root length, shoot length, number of leaves, biomass, photosynthetic pigment, protein and starch of P mungo. Malondialdehyde (MDA) product of lipid peroxidation was also enhanced in both root and leaves of sludge amended soil grown P. mungo at all the sludge amendments and exposure periods. A coordinated increase in cysteine, non-protein thiol and ascorbic acid antioxidants was up to 40 days of growth. After this period a decrease was observed. The N, P, K and Mg accumulation followed the order shoot > leaf > root. Calcium accumulation was highest in the upper part of the plants (including shoot and leaves). Furthermore, heavy metals content were also increased in different parts of P mungo grown on increasing concentration of sludge amended garden soil with time. Zinc and copper accumulation was maximum versus other heavy metals. Based on these studies, sludge having concentrations <= 10% (w/w) can be applied as a fertilizer. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.