2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[heirloomgal]

A longer than average bean filled post for the record; just realised I haven't listed which varieties I'm growing this season. Network beans marked with an asterisk. Plus some pictures of crosses and offtypes

French, climbing and dwarf
Atlas (wax), Aurie de Bacau crosses F2, Babcia Aniela (D), Barksdale (wax)*, Brown Tobacco Worm, Crochets de Savoie (blue-seeded), Eddie Sim's Travelling, Fortner Family Greasy, Gialét, Hodson Silver Wax (D), Laughing Arlie Greasy, Lil Daisy*, Mazlenk Visok Dolgi Stroki (wax), Mountaineer White Half-Runner, Myrtle Allen, Non-Tough Half Runner, Old Joe Clark, Ortner Speck, Petit Carré de Caen, Paarse Johan, Petit Gris, Petit Gris Variant, Phil's, Pink Tip Greasy*, Quatre-au-Mètre, Robert Hazelwood, Rockwell (D), Sallee-Dunahoo Family White Greasy*, Striped Bunch, Užice Speckled Wax, White Seeded Cherokee Trail of Tears, White Simpson Greasy, Wide Pod White Greasy*, Cherokee Greasy, Cherokee Long Greasy, Noir de Belgique (D), North Carolina Long Greasy Early, Frye's Golden Goose, Frye's GG Offtypes, Frye's GG Dwarf Offtype (D), Romanian x St. George F2, Saint Esprit d'Oeil Rouge (D), Veitch's Wonder/Nain de Veitch (D)

Runners
Aeron Purple Star, Blackpod (longer reddish variant from last year), Judión, Piękny Jaś Wrzawski, Salford Black

The Aurie de Bacau crosses were discovered in 2021. The F1 seeds were identical in appearance, as expected, but the resulting plants produced 3 distinctly different pods. So the cross must have involved pollen from several different varieties. The pod on the right is AdB; pod second from left had parchment; the other two had none-to-very little parchment. The seeds from the purple pods are the milky coffee colour that is so common in purple-podded varieties. The seeds from the greenish pods have the same khaki tones as their mother.
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The Petit Gris variant was from one surviving plant (also 2021 season) so currently unknown whether this was a cross or mutation, but shall soon find out. The growth habit, blossoms, and pods all matched the descriptions of Petit Gris, but the seeds were about 3x the size and blue with a beige mottled pattern instead of grey with a brown eye. Is the fact that the seeds are so much larger than the original a give-away that this is a cross?
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Some variability in Frye's Golden Goose. On the left are the original seeds from Gales Meadow Farm.
Seeds in the middle are fresh, from last year's crop, so the colour is brighter.
Cream seeds on the top-right are the 'FGG Dwarf Offtype' which appears to be stable after a couple of generations. This year I have enough seeds for a better assessment of growth, and hopefully taste for the first time. I do know that the pods are completely free from parchment, and 'creaseback' - the pods develop to be thick and filled out all around the circumference, with an indentation or crease along the suture strings (am I using the term correctly?).
On the bottom-right are some offtype seeds which I picked out of the original seed stock. What will come of them is anyone's guess. The 'FGG Dwarf Offtype' came from a seed very similar in appearance to the squarish brown one on the top-left of that offtype pile.
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The Romanian x St. George F2 is a vulgaris x coccineus cross discovered by a friend last season. Currently all the plants are growing well, mostly epigeal cotyledons but a couple had hypogeal cotyledons. Some odd leaves here and there; they seem a little confused by their own genetics at times. No pictures yet I'm afraid.

I'm delighted to see the Noir de Belgique on your list @Triffid; I grew that bean two years ago, it produced wonderfully, but the fellow I got the seed from had very little info about it other than it was in Vilmorin at some point. I always wondered if it was a legit variety, and was left curious since I turned up very little on the internet about it.

 

[Boilergardener]

Is the soil in your garden sandy @Boilergardener ? I ask because I've read that these bugs are drawn to certain types of soil matter. Wondering if it's true.

No not sand really which sort of surprises me i have the maggots

Its actual soil classification if you look at that triangle chart is "silty clay loam" which is higher clay content, with some silt and enough sand to not be horrible. Brownish soil not black soils. This soil type goes from northeast indiana, skips around NW ohio and goes south to indianapolis. Woodland soil type not the good prarie stuff, but still productive despite being poorly drained class soil. I would consider it good soil for gardening as i soil sample it and it is pretty much loaded with P+K and micros so good for growing beans. If i has Michigan sands i would have to water every day we havent had rain in over a week and next week we may not get any either

 

[heirloomgal]

No not sand really which sort of surprises me i have the maggots

Its actual soil classification if you look at that triangle chart is "silty clay loam" which is higher clay content, with some silt and enough sand to not be horrible. Brownish soil not black soils. This soil type goes from northeast indiana, skips around NW ohio and goes south to indianapolis. Woodland soil type not the good prarie stuff, but still productive despite being poorly drained class soil. I would consider it good soil for gardening as i soil sample it and it is pretty much loaded with P+K and micros so good for growing beans. If i has Michigan sands i would have to water every day we havent had rain in over a week and next week we may not get any either

I started seeing more 'bald heads' in my bean rows after importing some bush soil last year. I've read that manured soil increases the attraction for the fly, though I wonder if it can be extrapolated that 'rich' soils will draw them more? Then again, I just may not have paid much attention before then since I didn't hover over my bean rows like a mother hen then as I do now.

 

[heirloomgal]

The fava beans are in full bloom.

 

[Zeedman]

@Zeedman Thanks to Russ I'm growing Uzice Speckled Wax this year and it's good to know they also make good shellies in addition to the edible pods. I've been hoping to try more beans as shellies as I'm in love with the Appalachian beans where you eat both the pod and ripe green seeds. Shelling peas are the gardeners' staple here; I wonder why shelling beans never caught on. Do you have a photo of the Uzice bush bean?

Surprisingly, I didn't have a photo on file... I'll have to take good photos this year. These are the seeds I planted, from 2017:

My brother came over & stayed all day, helping me get the gardens in. All direct-seeding is done. Six trays of transplants are coming up already; their spots are all marked, so transplanting will go quickly. Soybeans planted today:

• Karikachi 3 (edamame)
• PI 437524 (green-brown, high protein, high yield)
• Rouest 13 A1 2 (large black seed)
• Seneca (late yellow, might not make it planted this late)
• Tai Xing Hei Dou (small black seed)
• Zolta z Zolna (short DTM yellow)

Bei 77-6177 & Sapporo Midori seeds are being soaked en masse & expanding, but no sign yet of germination... it might take a couple weeks.

I direct seeded a long row of Emerite pole beans today, those will be the snap crop for sharing & freezing. Still plenty of time for those, I've planted them as late as July 4th & had a full crop. All the other beans & soybeans are intended as seed crops. Starting them as late transplants might have helped, it already appears to have shaved 4-5 days off the germination time in soil. Cowpeas & yardlong beans set seed quickly, so I'm pretty optimistic about them. More in doubt are the limas, runners, & common beans... I'm hoping to get at least some dry seed before frost. I'm basically gardening in Canada this year.

 

[Zeedman]

The fava beans are in full bloom.
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Beautiful. Those were on my original grow list for the year, but I had to drop all cool season crops (and long-DTM crops) due to the late start. The silver lining is that left room to squeeze in some of the naked-seeded pumpkins.

 

[flowerbug]

It may not be @flowerbug , though delia platura doesn't really cause infestations like, say, aphids or spider mites. They are the kind of pest where you get a few here and there, mostly. I don't think they are drawn to one bean variety versus another, they will choose to lay eggs over a bean seed based on the weather of your planting day/period. In my case this year, it took me about a week to get all the beans in and the beans planted during the initial 2 planting days were affected. There was a cool wet spell after that planting, and I continued with the rest of the bean seeds once it warmed up. The rest were fine from that point on, the weather kept the soil warm and dry for those.

the affected plants are mostly in one row and one variety, but most seeds in that garden were planted on the same day. all the rest did ok, don't show the same issue. i'm pretty sure it is either a seed issue or critter targeted that one planting. i can finally take a closer look at things today when i water.

 

[jbosmith]

Yes, this is what I found too. The name tends to go by the crop the person is trying to grow! I think because the US grows so much corn - a favourite for delia platura it seems - it is referred to by that name, But onion growers call it onion maggots, and some people seem to just call them 'root maggots'. The bugs I guess aren't very picky!

The corn/soy rotations that are super popular in the American midwest are perfect for the fly's lifecycle, especially where they still feel the need to harrow crop residue in every year. The corn field near some of my garlic got lightly harrowed (discs to a couple of inches) early last year, and then it was wet, and there was no corn, and their flies attacked my garlic. The damage was mostly cosmetic but it was annoying. Luckily the first flush had died off before my beans went in.

I started seeing more 'bald heads' in my bean rows after importing some bush soil last year. I've read that manured soil increases the attraction for the fly, though I wonder if it can be extrapolated that 'rich' soils will draw them more? Then again, I just may not have paid much attention before then since I didn't hover over my bean rows like a mother hen then as I do now.

I believe they like organic matter and disturbed soils, both of which give them a place to lay their eggs.

the affected plants are mostly in one row and one variety, but most seeds in that garden were planted on the same day. all the rest did ok, don't show the same issue. i'm pretty sure it is either a seed issue or critter targeted that one planting. i can finally take a closer look at things today when i water.

I still vote for blaming rodents, because I'm bitter about some peas that went missing this morning, and blaming rodents for everything seems valid. That said, I believe this is how the damage shows up with seedcorn maggots in all but the heaviest infestations.

 

[flowerbug]

...
I still vote for blaming rodents, because I'm bitter about some peas that went missing this morning, and blaming rodents for everything seems valid. That said, I believe this is how the damage shows up with seedcorn maggots in all but the heaviest infestations.

you know how i feel! this morning going out to water and a large part of the North Garden is trampled or eaten by deer. it's always a risk because there's no fence enclosing it, but they'd stayed away for the past few weeks for the most part. last night it was several feasting and having a good 'ol time.

i made some deep trenches through it to try to discourage easy walking through, but that doesn't seem to have mattered.

 

[jbosmith]

you know how i feel! this morning going out to water and a large part of the North Garden is trampled or eaten by deer. it's always a risk because there's no fence enclosing it, but they'd stayed away for the past few weeks for the most part. last night it was several feasting and having a good 'ol time.

i made some deep trenches through it to try to discourage easy walking through, but that doesn't seem to have mattered.

I use this sort of netting with hoops in some of my gardens, much like you would with floating row cover. The link is just the first thing that came up in a search and not a product endorsement

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SZ1H698