2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[heirloomgal]

I do not know this variety (are they big?) but I have already been growing soybean for a soybean project. The manual said to sow them 2 to 2.5 inch apart in rows with a distance between the rows of apprx. 1.5 feet.
So, if you ask me, these 1.5 inch apart should not be a true problem. If they were mine I would leave them as they are, unless they fall apart anyhow when taking out of the little pots.

I'm not sure how big they are @BeanieQueen , I only managed to get one seed to sprout last year and can't recall it's size against the others. It is a pretty bean seed, Kermit the frog green with a black saddle.

2 years ago when I planted soybeans at a close 2" spacing mice were climbing up into the plant canopy at night, as the pods were drying, to strip the pods. So now I'm probably going overboard with spacing to try to reduce their cover. I had one Sayamusume plant that had a foot spacing all around and it matured the earliest of all of them and had no mice damage. In my area (northern Ontario) soybeans can be a little difficult to mature in time so I am juggling all the factors for maturity, protection and still thinking about yield. So many considerations!

 

[Jack Holloway]

@heirloomgal, Ms. Gal, that sucks you have to become a trapper to protect your garden. Best of luck in the hunt.

 

[meadow]

Finally had a break in the weather to work in the garden, and wound up having a stare-down with a dang blasted raccoon. Surprised to see it out in broad daylight though. Probably drawn to the cat food the neighbor sets out to feed stray cats. I hope raccoons aren't attracted to peas or beans.

 

[Zeedman]

Thank you so much @Zeedman , so 2 feet between the pots would not be necessary? About a foot would be sufficient? I planted all the single marbled soybean plants (100% germination!) 12 inches apart.

Two foot spacing would be unnecessary, I doubt that would result in much improvement over 12" spacing. For single plants, I've never gone over 6-8" between plants; soybeans are bushy & loaded with pods at that spacing.

Krasnoarmejscaja, at 6" spacing

 

[flowerbug]

i've never noticed a problem with raccoons going for either peas or beans, but at times they have gone for digging up any plant that was put in from a pot where the growing medium had any kind of fertilizer that reminded them of something edible. so far i have not ever planted out many bean plants started in pots and not had any excavation works being done on those few - it has always been the onion starts that have at times been dug up.

for groundhogs, they seem to usually feed in the morning and towards the evening so perhaps you can go hang out in the garden more at those times to deter them. we used to live trap them but gave up. now i have more fencing and once in a while i have to hunt them. not fun, but much less time and $ wasted. perhaps setting out a few rat traps with baits that they like would also discourage them if they get a snootful of trap going off.

they can climb too, but so far i have not seen a full adult attempt any of the tall good fences we have. where they get through here are places they've dug under the fence that i've not fixed or the poorer fences we put up a long time ago and simply put, Mom bought the wrong fence so they can get through it.

 

[Zeedman]

I had hoped when I read your post @flowerbug, that where there is one groundhog there will be more, that my situation would prove to be an exception. Sigh. Alas, you were indeed right. I saw #2 this afternoon, probably looking for it's friend, and in my garden. Well, DH and I can't face another episode as the last one. We are both still feeling the awfulness of that last experience. So, I went out and bought a live trap. Apparently cantaloupe is the ideal lure. Set it this afternoon. Between hardware cloth for the voles, the new trap, and the diatomeceous powder I've spent over $160 on preventative measures against bugs and critters. Got my fingers crossed that it all works.

Aside from my kales and cabbages the groundhogs haven't seemed to have bothered anything. I hope one month old bean plants are of no interest. I recall @Zeedman mentioning how attractive soybeans in particular are to animals of every kind. I really hope the plants can make it.

This is seems to be the time of year for young adult groundhogs to leave the nest & seek their own territory. Every few years I get one in late May - June... haven't figured out where they are coming from yet. They will dig under my garden fence, and usually attack the squash or soybeans. I just place a baited live trap on the garden side of their entrance hole (covered with hay for concealment) and usually catch the groundhog within 1-2 days. You are not supposed to relocate them, so I used to kill them when caught. But I've had my fill of death, and don't have the heart to kill anything... so I hope one doesn't show up this year.

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal, Ms. Gal, that sucks you have to become a trapper to protect your garden. Best of luck in the hunt.

I've been gardening in this spot for 14 years and have never had to do ANY of this until last year! I guess nature is cyclical; first it was easy then it wasn't.

 

[Blue-Jay]

They are pretty!! Is this bush or pole?

Bush.

 

[flowerbug]

i should finally be able to get some beans planted tomorrow, Thursday or Friday. depends upon how the weather goes.

 

[heirloomgal]

31 C / 87.8 F today, don't think the newly transplanted beans will like this! No P. vulgaris or P. coccineus plants are wilting though. Fava bean plants were melting like ice cream, but once the shade from the neighbouring tree hit them they perked up. So hot.