2021 Little Easy Bean Network - Bean Lovers Come Discover Something New !

[Zeedman]

i recall in times past that accountants were called bean counters.

i never knew that gardening would get me into the Fortune 500, but i guess i'm just happy enough being in the fortunate millions.

There is more than one way to be wealthy.

 

[Niele da Kine]

Well, the store bought bag of Navy beans don't seem to be fertile. I planted some and they didn't sprout. I've had good luck with planting beans bought for eating before so I didn't know if it was the seed or something ate them as soon as they sprouted. I tried sprouting them in the sprout jar and they didn't sprout there so most likely the seed isn't fertile. Do beans for eating now get treated so they won't sprout?

How dry do beans have to be to plant them? There's usually Good Mother Stallard growing for soup beans here and there was a pod with four beans (I generally opt to plant beans from pods with four beans in it instead of just three) in it that was almost dry so those beans were planted where the Navy beans didn't sprout and they seem to be growing even though they weren't completely dry when they were planted.

Saving seed doesn't work real well around here due to the high humidity. Sometimes the saved seeds will get enough humidity to try to sprout and not enough to keep going and the end result is dead seeds. That may be what happened to the Navy beans? Although, I'd planted them fairly soon after getting them from the store.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Well, the store bought bag of Navy beans don't seem to be fertile. I planted some and they didn't sprout. I've had good luck with planting beans bought for eating before so I didn't know if it was the seed or something ate them as soon as they sprouted. I tried sprouting them in the sprout jar and they didn't sprout there so most likely the seed isn't fertile. Do beans for eating now get treated so they won't sprout?

How dry do beans have to be to plant them? There's usually Good Mother Stallard growing for soup beans here and there was a pod with four beans (I generally opt to plant beans from pods with four beans in it instead of just three) in it that was almost dry so those beans were planted where the Navy beans didn't sprout and they seem to be growing even though they weren't completely dry when they were planted.

Saving seed doesn't work real well around here due to the high humidity. Sometimes the saved seeds will get enough humidity to try to sprout and not enough to keep going and the end result is dead seeds. That may be what happened to the Navy beans? Although, I'd planted them fairly soon after getting them from the store.

We usually pick individual pods once the start to change color and finish drying them in the house to avoid them molding or sprouting in the humidity.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do beans for eating now get treated so they won't sprout?

Not that I'm aware of. I wonder if they might have gotten too warm in the drying process or shipping?

I test for germination by soaking a paper towel and squeezing most of the water out and wrapping the beans in that damp paper towel. Then I put that in a zip loc bag but do not zip the bag up and put them someplace warm. If you catch them as they start to sprout you can plant them. I imagine your sprouting jar works somewhat on the same principle.

How dry do beans have to be to plant them?

Not totally dry for sure. I've had beans sprout in the pod when it rained even though the pod wasn't that cured. Some varieties seem to do that more than others.

 

[flowerbug]

a test shot from this morning. looking better with not so much glare.

 

[heirloomgal]

Well, the store bought bag of Navy beans don't seem to be fertile. I planted some and they didn't sprout. I've had good luck with planting beans bought for eating before so I didn't know if it was the seed or something ate them as soon as they sprouted. I tried sprouting them in the sprout jar and they didn't sprout there so most likely the seed isn't fertile. Do beans for eating now get treated so they won't sprout?

How dry do beans have to be to plant them? There's usually Good Mother Stallard growing for soup beans here and there was a pod with four beans (I generally opt to plant beans from pods with four beans in it instead of just three) in it that was almost dry so those beans were planted where the Navy beans didn't sprout and they seem to be growing even though they weren't completely dry when they were planted.

Saving seed doesn't work real well around here due to the high humidity. Sometimes the saved seeds will get enough humidity to try to sprout and not enough to keep going and the end result is dead seeds. That may be what happened to the Navy beans? Although, I'd planted them fairly soon after getting them from the store.A lady

A seed seller that I know, who lives in an area of Canada that grows large expanses of Navy beans for international export recently told me that chemicals are used to hasten the dry down process for those beans. I'm not sure if this could affect germination rates in the Navy beans themselves, but I imagine artificially forcing the dry down period could possibly affect the viability of the beans. Just a thought...

 

[flowerbug]

A seed seller that I know, who lives in an area of Canada that grows large expanses of Navy beans for international export recently told me that chemicals are used to hasten the dry down process for those beans. I'm not sure if this could affect germination rates in the Navy beans themselves, but I imagine artificially forcing the dry down period could possibly affect the viability of the beans. Just a thought...

they knock the plants back with a herbicide, but that should not really affect any beans that are already formed.

heat during harvest/drying/sorting/cleaning/shipping can affect them and then perhaps they were in some silo someplace for a long time before they got sold. Hawaii is likely quite a long ways from where they were grown and it's not exactly cool there, if the warehouse was hot enough. just my thoughts, good luck.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Beans for eating and selling to the grocery trade are sometimes heat treated to kill insects that inhabit bean seed if the grower knows that they have those kinds of bugs in their growing area. I know I have purchased seed from Purcell Mountain, Rancho Gordo and North Bay Trading Company and all their seed grows. Anyway it has in past years.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Suggestion:

If anyone wants Network beans for grow out email me. upadam@comcast.net. That way I can keep all my bean message in one place. Don't PM on this Garden Forum.

 

[heirloomgal]

I just read tonight that North Dakota is the leading state for dry bean production, with Michigan just behind. The province of Manitoba, just North of ND is Canada's leading grower of beans for export. Anyone have any ideas why this area is such a successful legume producing area? I find this a little surprising because it's quite Northern territory, and would imagine that growing seasons could end a little too quickly for a properly timed harvest. I would have thought bean growing, on a massive scale, would be more Southern, in areas where there is little chance for crops to be ruined by early frosts or short season problems. Somewhat of a puzzle.