2023 Little Easy Bean Network - Beans Beyond The Colors Of A Rainbow

[flowerbug]

The "rescue protocol" is creating ideal conditions for germination. For most beans, that just involves planting in pots with sterile seed starter, then bottom-soaking the pots over-night in a sterile low-N solution....

thank you!

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal

Your photos of the P. Coccineus above are just gorgeous. Love that comparison shot with Passage To India.

Isn't it sort of wild how much the seed coats look alike and yet they are totally different beans?!

 

[heirloomgal]

Those look better than mine! I'm really borderline for runner beans, they often don't fill out for me as well as they do in cooler climates. But I'm just glad I live in a "Goldilocks zone" where I am just cool enough to succeed with runner beans, and just warm enough to succeed with limas. The jury is still out on favas, maybe I'll find out this year.

You really are lucky @Zeedman to be able to cover well all three species! I may give limas another try someday, but my last attempts have been so close to the wire if not downright unsuccessful I may need to accept that I can't grow 'em. Well, runner beans are pretty nice and its P. vulgaris that's my mashed potatoes and gravy, so no complaints!

 

[flowerbug]

You really are lucky @Zeedman to be able to cover well all three species! I may give limas another try someday, but my last attempts have been so close to the wire if not downright unsuccessful I may need to accept that I can't grow 'em. Well, runner beans are pretty nice and its P. vulgaris that's my mashed potatoes and gravy, so no complaints!

pretty much where i am at also.

i love bush lima beans and can usually get a crop from them but they cannot be planted late. as soon as the ground is warm enough they can go in. pre-sprouting just isn't workable for me.

i love peas too. wish i had more space and time for all of these.

 

[nune]

Some bad news, I had to kill my baby bean plant because its soil was infested with little baby gnats and it wouldn't survive because I foolishly used dish soap to get rid of the gnats. Don't worry, I can always start over. I'll buy an organic insect repellent to add to my potting soil before I do large-scale container gardening indoors like this again.

 

[ducks4you]

Also, sterilize your pots.

How to Sterilize Plant Pots

homeguides.sfgate.com

We are having a warm spell starting tomorrow and I have a muck bucket to use to clean up all of those 3 inch plastic pots that I got with purchased vegetables over the years.
I plan to fill it up with 10% bleach solution and clean them up bc it's seed starting time.

How to Get Rid of Gnats in Houseplants: Treatment & Prevention

Noticing small, irritating insects on or around your houseplants? Fungus gnats are attracted to moist soil, making them a common pesky problem for plant owners. Fortunately, there are a lot of techniques you can use to get rid of the gnats...

www.wikihow.com

 

[heirloomgal]

Couple new beans.

White Beauty, pole bean

Petit Carré de Caen, pole bean​

This bean dates to 1868, is of Norman heritage, was marketed up until about 1960. Rare now, but was adopted onto the Ark of Taste.

Saint-Sacrament, bush bean
The blurb reads:
Traditional hardy variety from Bas-St-Laurent.
According to the person who provided us with this treasure, a legend from Kamouraska has it that on Corpus Christi, cows blocked the way without letting the procession pass, which had to take the field where these beans were growing, which were sanctified by it. Approx. 90 days.

Some new favas

Gold, or Elio from Peru

Martoc, medieval variety

Red Epicure

Sanuki Kotsuba, Japanese variety

 

[nune]

Is anyone experienced with mixing neem seed meal in soil both as a fertilizer and to repel gnats? I'm thinking of getting that.

 

[ducks4you]

I am becoming a bean lover. I have about 1/2 a dozen different beans to grow in 2023.
Although I have a lot of space and fencing to use, how far apart do I need to space each kind of bean to keep them from cross pollingating?

 

[heirloomgal]

I am becoming a bean lover. I have about 1/2 a dozen different beans to grow in 2023.
Although I have a lot of space and fencing to use, how far apart do I need to space each kind of bean to keep them from cross pollingating?

Generally ducks, you don't need to worry much about cross pollination with beans. They are self pollinating (unlike, say corn), and self pollinating plants tend to breed true. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule and some of it depends on how much bee activity you have. In 15 years, I have seen one pole bean cross in all my grow outs, and I've grown about 250 varieties of beans over the years - ALL in the same garden without any isolation (though each growth type is separated). So, the odds are pretty good. If you are in an agricultural area, or open field, though it seems that can increase the likelihood of crosses.

If you want to save seeds from your beans I'd say your biggest concern is with plant spacing for the purpose of drying down. The distancing on packets is for green beans, not for the full life cycle of the plant. They need a wider spacing for seed saving.