Free-living soil bacteria that promote plant development, known as plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB), can colonize the plant root and promote plant growth. In general, PGPB work in three ways: producing certain molecules for the plants, enabling the uptake of specific nutrients from the soil, and decreasing or preventing disease in the plants. The variety of conditions may influence the evolution of microorganisms and shape their phenotype. Especially the soil, which is the main niche of PGPB is very heterogeneous in terms of nutrients, pH and particle size. Different bacterial strains were isolated from bulk soil and vegetables samples collected from north-eastern Poland. The analysis of selected PGPB properties was carried out among 154 bacterial isolates, based on: (i) qualitative and quantitative estimation of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) solubilization activity, (ii) quantitative estimation of Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production. Additionally, the potential chitinolytic properties of the tested isolates were preliminarily established by qualitative test. 63.2% of tested bacterial isolates were capable of solubilizing potassium whereas 66.8 % were capable of solubilizing phosphate. Pseudomonas spp. AF8I4 showed the highest phosphate solubilization, while Comamonas koreensis DC5 showed the highest potassium solubilization activity. Quantitative tests revealed that 85.5% of the tested bacteria produced auxin. The ability to degrade colloidal chitin was observed in only about 10% of the 154 bacterial strains. The obtained results indicate that the isolates from different origin differ in PGP properties. Our results suggest that some of isolated bacteria can be used as plant-growth promoters or biocontrol agents.