2025 Little Easy Bean Network - Growers Of The Future Will Be Glad We Saved

[flowerbug]

I'm growing this bean this year and already have dry pods. I also have Dow Purple Pod and Purple Pod Pole as network beans. All very similar growth and appearance. The network beans just a bit behind Trionfo Violetto.

thank you!

 

[frijolymoly]

I would say that the grower of the outcross usually can keep the outcrossed seed. Sometimes the grower will send some of the outcrossed seed back if the seed coat is really something different or unique.

Ok, thank you for the clarification!

Since flowerbug said that this seed coat is pretty common, I guess this one probably doesn't need sending in.

If I get any more outcrosses or interesting results, let me know if it's something different or unique for the Network Beans.

 

[frijolymoly]

me too! likely pole beans (a dominant trait) but it really depends upon how many traits of Gold of Bacau were recessive instead of dominant and who the daddy was. green pods are dominant, yellow pods are recessive, etc.

there are many genes that play a role in seed coat colors and patterns, to give you an idea of the complexity check out:

Frontiers | Genomic insights into genetic diversity and seed coat color change in common bean composite populations

IntroductionThe color of the seed coat of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important trait influencing marketability and consumer preferences. An un...

www.frontiersin.org

i am very much interested in all of this, but my brain does not retain certain details very well so i remain an amateur.

Thank you for the article! I remember in school when they first went over genetics they talked about Mendel and peas and punnet squares, but gosh, reading scientific journals can be a bit intense I can understand some of it, but then other parts I get a bit lost and overwhelmed

I would like to know more about bean genetics and how the other traits fit into dominant or recessive or other categories. I think I'll have to look around sometime and read some easier to digest materials and gradually build my way up to understanding the more dense/intense research.

 

[frijolymoly]

Marvel of Nictaux (Network Bean)

Shelled some pods today.

Some of the pods didn't fill all the way. I've been having a problem with that on some of my bean plants in general.

The seeds darken over time.

I had decided to pop open the other set of pods from the first pic in this post, and one pod had some inverted color beans ?! I didn't know that beans in the same pod could have different seed coats! That was a surprise to me! I don't know if that is a common occurrence or not (the inverted color coat as well as different colors in same pod).

 

[flowerbug]

Thank you for the article! I remember in school when they first went over genetics they talked about Mendel and peas and punnet squares, but gosh, reading scientific journals can be a bit intense I can understand some of it, but then other parts I get a bit lost and overwhelmed

I would like to know more about bean genetics and how the other traits fit into dominant or recessive or other categories. I think I'll have to look around sometime and read some easier to digest materials and gradually build my way up to understanding the more dense/intense research.

certainly, i've never been able to memorize well so i get bits and pieces but the details are rather beyond me.

life is beautiful and complex and from what that article tells me is that there are many interelated factors which influence bean colors and patterns.

i posted that one, though, because i'd like people to understand that it really is very complex even if it is all based upon genetics (which are simple to start with, but then the layers add up and influence each other).

 

[flowerbug]

Ok, thank you for the clarification!

Since flowerbug said that this seed coat is pretty common, I guess this one probably doesn't need sending in.

If I get any more outcrosses or interesting results, let me know if it's something different or unique for the Network Beans.

if you do grow outs for a few years you'll be able to see if the bean is stable or not and if it is unique and interesting enough to share with others.

my experience is that you won't know until you do it and once you do it you may find yourself on some interesting journeys...

 

[Ridgerunner]

How are outcrosses usually handled for the Network beans?

It is Bluejay's network so definitely follow him. But years back I got some outcrosses from him to try to grow out. Several of us did. With four different outcrosses I got about 2 dozen distinctly different beans. As we had agreed I sent him back samples of those. But I kept several and started growing them out, trying to stabilize them and create a new variety.

The way I considered stability, the growth pattern, pod and flower colors, and bean coat color and patterns had to be identical for three straight times growing it. It took a while but before I had to stop growing beans I had developed five new stabilized varieties from them and sent them back to Bluejay. You can see Aksai, Banzala, Cock 'N Bull, Jas, and Valley View on page 10 and 11 of Bluejay's website beans. There are many more on those pages that never stabilized for me.

I'll mention it in case you want to try growing that bean out to try to stabilize something and get to name a bean variety yourself. It can be frustrating and addictive but as Flowerbug said, it can be an interesting journey.

 

[flowerbug]

Marvel of Nictaux (Network Bean)
...
I had decided to pop open the other set of pods from the first pic in this post, and one pod had some inverted color beans ?! I didn't know that beans in the same pod could have different seed coats! That was a surprise to me! I don't know if that is a common occurrence or not (the inverted color coat as well as different colors in same pod).

i first saw those happen in some Cranberry beans, it's commonly called reversing or a reversal, but the geneticists probably have a different name for it. it's when the background color switches with the foreground. i've seen it several times since and sometimes it is the whole pod that switches and other times it is half the pod (alternating).

i think it is also one of the few examples of where the genetics of the pollen have some effect on the seeds that develop.

 

[ruralmamma]

interesting tidbit came across variety of bean called "Trionfo Violetto", but very few pictures of seeds of this variety. has anyone here grown it or found a good picture of the seeds themselves?

of course this is related to my search for the parents of Purple Dove...

the seeds appear to be pale to white and about the right shape and seed eye of a possible PD parental unit...

I've grown Trionfo Violetto for probably five years now. It might be a day or two, but I'll take a picture of my seed.

 

[Blue-Jay]

If you get any more outcrosses or interesting results, let me know if it's something different or unique for the Network Beans.

Yes if you do come across some different and unique seed coats in your crosses and want to donate some seed I would definitely be interested.