Different types of green beans

flowerbug

Garden Master
Joined
Oct 15, 2017
Messages
15,885
Reaction score
23,784
Points
417
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
Just a guess . . . :ya

giphy.gif

a pillow case comes in handy for beans like that. :) (i call them flingers that like to shatter and toss beans around the room).
 

flowerbug

Garden Master
Joined
Oct 15, 2017
Messages
15,885
Reaction score
23,784
Points
417
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
@Zeedman it wasn't an issue of getting seeds later in the filet beans it was a matter of getting any seeds at all.

in 2017 i put in a nice sized patch of them hoping to restore my seed stock and because i was hoping for seeds i didn't pick and eat many of them. late summer and early fall i started checking them out and hardly found any seeds. i could have been eating all of those instead! wasted a lot of space for little return. so that was strike two (tried them another year too with much the same result).

strike three is that they're a white bean. i'm not much into all white beans. i ate too many of those as a kid and so now i like to try other beans instead. :) i'll grow other beans instead.
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
25,720
Reaction score
28,731
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
Multiple sowings work well. If I can get the seed in by June 15th, they will have a crop before frost.
This was wrong. It should read:

"If I can get the seed in by July 15th, they will have a crop before frost."

July ... I guess I can go back and edit it. I once thought that it was worth trying at a later July date. I even tried that in 2018. Fail!!

Peas are stifled by mildew after first harvest. I like to get them in early and out early. But, it's gotta be before 15 July if I want these quick bush beans to replace them in that ground. It should not always work but there has been enough success that I am certainly willing to risk it.

Steve
 

seedcorn

Garden Master
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
9,627
Reaction score
9,882
Points
397
Location
NE IN
So filet beans go to seed much later giving me a longer harvest window?

What about flavor? As good or worse?
 

Beekissed

Garden Master
Joined
May 15, 2008
Messages
5,054
Reaction score
6,797
Points
377
Location
Eastern Panhandle, WV
I don't like beans, so I can't tell you from personal experience about the flavor of beans. My family have grown half runners for generations now and swear by their flavor above all others. Well...since I don't know a hill of beans one from another, I decided to grow some Fortex a friend had sent me.

They germinated like they were on steroids and grew the same way....never have I been so impressed with the growth of any garden plant!!! Hanging with beans all season, clear up to hard frost. Only one thing wrong with them....not a single person in the family or extended family could get past the poor taste of them. Said, if they tasted like anything at all, it was a chemical taste...and I use NO chemicals on my garden.

So, this year I grew the half runners again for eating~with continued rave reviews from family and friends alike~ and the Fortex for Jap beetle bait along the fence and that worked out great. The chickens benefited from the beetle attractant and I benefited from it as well, as I had very few beetles of any kind on the half runners.

I'll likely do that again.
 

Zeedman

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
3,890
Reaction score
11,931
Points
307
Location
East-central Wisconsin
So filet beans go to seed much later giving me a longer harvest window?

What about flavor? As good or worse?
I suppose that depends upon what flavor (and texture) suits your taste. Most people who have grown Fortex love the flavor; they are particularly sweet & tender even eaten raw, are very slow to develop seed & fiber, and freeze well. The 10-11" length is also noteworthy. During a bad year, it also showed strong resistance to rust. It is brown seeded.

Emerite is less sweet, but still lacks the "beany" flavor of some of the stronger-flavored varieties like Kentucky Wonder & some of the Appalachian beans. It is also exceptionally firm, and the uniformly straight pods are well suited to canning. The yield for me is better than Fortex, and is consistently good from year to year regardless of weather. It is black seeded.

Both are stringless pole varieties, I don't think you would be unhappy with either. They can be spaced a little closer than other pole varieties, I get the best results thinning to 2@12". If you would like to try Emerite, send me a PM.

Unlike Fortex & Emerite, most bush filet varieties will develop fiber as the pods enlarge. If you wish to grow a bush filet variety, I would recommend the black-seeded Maxibel, which is supposedly stringless (I have not grown it personally).

I mention the seed colors because beans with darker seed coats tend to have better cool-soil germination.
 

seedcorn

Garden Master
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
9,627
Reaction score
9,882
Points
397
Location
NE IN
Bush beans for me only.

Appreciate all responses.
 

seedcorn

Garden Master
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
9,627
Reaction score
9,882
Points
397
Location
NE IN
I don't like beans, so I can't tell you from personal experience about the flavor of beans. My family have grown half runners for generations now and swear by their flavor above all others. Well...since I don't know a hill of beans one from another, I decided to grow some Fortex a friend had sent me.

They germinated like they were on steroids and grew the same way....never have I been so impressed with the growth of any garden plant!!! Hanging with beans all season, clear up to hard frost. Only one thing wrong with them....not a single person in the family or extended family could get past the poor taste of them. Said, if they tasted like anything at all, it was a chemical taste...and I use NO chemicals on my garden.

So, this year I grew the half runners again for eating~with continued rave reviews from family and friends alike~ and the Fortex for Jap beetle bait along the fence and that worked out great. The chickens benefited from the beetle attractant and I benefited from it as well, as I had very few beetles of any kind on the half runners.

I'll likely do that again.
What does that say when the bugs eat one variety and leave the other alone? (I kid, I kid)
 

Latest posts

Top