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

[Zeedman]

Ditto on the recommendation of bean transplants, when intending to save seed in short-season areas. I use them for nearly all beans, to overcome delayed planting due to bad weather, get a better stand, and to germinate older seed. Also helpful if cutworms, birds or squirrels tend to kill young sprouts, since pests are less likely to kill the stronger transplants (I have problems with squirrels digging up direct-seeded runner beans, because the shoots resemble walnut sprouts; but they won't bother the transplants). They can also make the difference between success & failure for long-season beans, such as limas. I start beans on my target planting date (about June 1st) so that the DTM seed clock starts running regardless of weather.

I use peat pots/strips to minimize root disturbance during transplant, with extra holes punched in the pot bottoms to aid root penetration. The Jiffy 32 strips (or equivalent) work for most beans & soybeans; Jiffy 50 strips work well for the smaller Vigna beans (cowpeas, yardlongs, adzuki, mung). I can get away with using the 32's for limas & runner beans if they will be transplanted soon after the first leaves appear.

Experience has taught me to start at least an 8-pot strip of all beans planted, regardless of whether I direct seeded. Those backups have frequently saved my seed crops from failure when flooding rains caused the first planting to rot, germination was poor, or birds plucked out the emerging seedlings. I hardly ever fail to get a good bean seed crop since embracing this philosophy.

 

[flowerbug]

seven days for peas isn't too bad for sprouting, that many days for the beans meant it must have been colder a few nights to slow them down. usually they'll come up a few days sooner than that when planted later in the month.

just watered them a few minutes ago and they look like they're doing just fine.

it sprinkled a bit earlier today but that wasn't nearly enough and since there is a good chance i'll be too busy tomorrow morning to water they may have to wait until Monday before they get another drink.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Got the early start Limas all in there 16 oz styro cups. Watered and just waiting for them to emerge from their potting mix. I wonder how much of a root system they will develop in two weeks. I am hoping they will develop enough roots in the potting mix to hold the entire ball together when I take them out to plant them.

Lima varieties are

Scorpio
Romance
Ping Zebra x Pinwheel - Temporary working title
Deep Red Ping Zebra - Temporary working title
Illinois Giant
Zeta Reticuli
Libra

I'm also going to grow out Neptune again this year and I might add it to this early start group also.

 

[heirloomgal]

So, I'm sitting on a pin waiting to see sprouts in my pots.

This is my least favorite part in the bean journey - the worrying. That said, I think I did much better this year with the starter pots and though they feel on 'the dry side' right now I think I can see some 'rising mound' type cracks beginning that tend to indicate things moving down below. It is sooooo tempting to give them another little splash of water since the tops are clearly dry, but if I poke a finger in there still is some faint quality of moisture in there and so I'm stopping myself. I think if I'm going to overdo something, I'll have a better chance with dryness that moisture in those pots. Beans really don't seem to need much water when it comes to germination. But I'll feel MUCH better when I see that my 200 pots have sprouted. I did only plant 4 seeds of each network bean, which means I can still plant 4 seeds straight into the ground if I need to June 1st and also means I would get one more try next year at them too.

Oh, the waiting.....wanna press ⏩⏩⏩

eta: I spread a thin layer of fresh coffee grinds across the tops of every pot, and I'm not sure, but I think it worked to keep pests away. I don't drink the stuff, but it's all I could smell in the house every night and even outdoors near the beans. That's bound to have thrown some flying things off the trail!!

 

[heirloomgal]

Finally got my deteriorating, long raised bush bean bed replaced! It has been slowly falling apart, and we got the lumber for it last year, but there were so many other jobs being done that we just couldn't get to it. We did get the planks painted last year though. We even extended the bed by a few feet and got a load of compost for the extra space & to top up the bed. This wood is much thicker than the last, and it's also newly harvested timber, so it'll last much longer (and also leak sap! lol)

One of the things we did to help prevent the wood disintegrating was take some of the siding we had removed from the house last year when we resided and tacked it on in two overlapping layers, then DH painted it so as to be a bit less noticeable.

Siding layer

Parker's Half Runner wins the race for 1st bean up! Van Gogh's Olive #2!

 

[Branching Out]

We could still have a month of coolish weather in our area, however purple snap beans are supposedly more cold-tolerant than the green ones and are recommended for starting early in the Pacific Northwest. Gotta love those anthocyanins. So I started six Trionfo Violetto pole bean seeds on April 26th, and now at the 3 week mark they are looking quite handsome. They will get planted out with a massive branch from an ornamental plum tree for support. My husband bought a small auger to create deep holes for the thick plum branches that I am sticking in the ground for the bean plants. There are also a dozen Blooming Prairie semi-runners that will go out soon as well. I am finding that there is something very compelling and beautiful about bean seedlings; perhaps it is the almost instant gratification that comes with growing such vigorous seedlings. I could sit and gaze at them all day. ☺️

 

[heirloomgal]

Gotta love those anthocyanins.

Yes! I've seen the extra strength that any veggie with antho has! One year my kids forgot to take a tray of peppers from the greenhouse to the house at night - the only ones that survived were the antho peppers! It's like a survival gene, lol. Even the antho tomatoes are resistant to perishing.

eta: @Branching Out have you ever tried pinching your pole beans?

 

[Branching Out]

Yes! I've seen the extra strength that any veggie with antho has! One year my kids forgot to take a tray of peppers from the greenhouse to the house at night - the only ones that survived were the antho peppers! It's like a survival gene, lol. Even the antho tomatoes are resistant to perishing.

eta: @Branching Out have you ever tried pinching your pole beans?

I have never heard of pinching pole beans. Is that something you do to promote branching?? Is there a chance I will kill it?

 

[flowerbug]

the risk you take with covering things is that you might drop the cover, props or things you use to hold the covers down upon what you are trying to preserve from the cold...

i was taking off the covers yesterday after it warmed up a bit more and i'd used buckets to cover some of the beans so the buckets also were the props i used to hold the sheets i put out there. when lifting up one of the buckets (trying to be careful) it was slippery enough with the garden gloves that it fell on the beans and it did break off one of the bean plants and may have damaged a few others but i think they'll be ok. luckily the one that broke off was an extra one growing in the same space as another bean plant. and yes i was using both hands at the time so i was trying to be careful, but just did not fully succeed.

the neighboring peas look quite ok and i did not even bother to cover them.

 

[heirloomgal]

I have never heard of pinching pole beans. Is that something you do to promote branching?? Is there a chance I will kill it?

Yes, it's to promote branching. I learned about it by accident; I had a semi-runner bean called Mr. Fearn's and I gave the plants large tomato supports to climb. But they climbed waaay too much, so I trimmed the tips several times to keep them on the cage, not above. Was one of the most productive beans that summer. I've pinched a few pole beans since then and it does seem to increase yields. Might be something to try as an experiment to. see what you get! I only pinch when the plants are still in the starter pots, after some true leaves form. I think @Bluejay77 mentioned at some point he knew some one who did that.