2020 Little Easy Bean Network - An Exciting Adventure In Heirloom Beans !

[flowerbug]

I got something kind of interesting in the mail today. Of course more beans. Six varieties. I have an aqaintence with a bean farmer in Idaho Falls, Idaho. His business is called Gentec. He grows certified bean seed for other farmers that grow beans for the grocery store trade and for export. He told me he was going to send these beans a month ago if he could get a hold of enough of them. These beans are new breeding work done by the University of California in Davis. They have bred some heirloom type beans for increased yield, BCMV (bean mosaic) resistance and to maintain seed coat color as much as possible. There are no restrictions on propagating the seed and distributing them.

#1. Southwest Gold - Most similar to Zuni Gold +47% increased Yield
#2. Tiger's Eye +55% increased Yield
#3. Sunrise - Most Similar To Zuni Gold Anasazi +56% increased Yield
#4. Rio Zape +16% increased Yield
#5. Four Corners Red - Most Similar to Anasazi +22% increased Yield
#6. Southwest Red - Another Form of Anasazi with more white than #5 +87% increased Yield

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all lovely and worth growing. my own grow out of Anasazi last year i really can't say it needed any improved productivity it was a good bean for me and i'll keep growing it.

 

[ducks4you]

That is what I did for you in Angels Camp. I have very large grow bags. I put tomato cages around them. The beans were spaced 5 feet apart, separate from my regular tiny garden. Hubs put some deer fencing around them. We lived on a golf course there too. I used a combination of natural soil and purchased and home made compost. They were on drip irrigation. I believe this was in 2016. I don't have photos cus when I got a new laptop in 2017, my BIL failed to transfer any of my years and years of old pics over to the new machine.

It is amazing how those cages are lousy for tomatoes but Perfect for Sweet Peppers, Hot Peppers and, it looks like perfect for beans!

 

[ducks4you]

Who here grows scarlett runner beans? Love some advice. I have lined plastic pots with newspaper, paper sacks, all cut to fit to help avoid transplant shock. Will it be worth it to start them indoors like this, This week and then transplant? Or, will I still have transplant shock? Thanks for any advice!

 

[Zeedman]

@Bluejay77 , if you ever have enough of that improved Tiger Eye to share, I would be interested. I really liked the culinary qualities of Tiger Eye, the relatively low yield is the only reason I stopped growing it.

 

[flowerbug]

Who here grows scarlett runner beans? Love some advice. I have lined plastic pots with newspaper, paper sacks, all cut to fit to help avoid transplant shock. Will it be worth it to start them indoors like this, This week and then transplant? Or, will I still have transplant shock? Thanks for any advice!

i have grown them a few times and the first time i did grow them they were in a gallon container. no issue with transplant shock that i remember and they did well. nice crop. 2nd time i planted them directly and the seeds did not form as well and not as nice of a crop. the flowers were beautiful, i would grow them for those alone. eating wise they are a bean so i do like them. i never ate them at the green pod stage when still tender so i can't say how those are.

 

[Zeedman]

Who here grows scarlett runner beans? Love some advice. I have lined plastic pots with newspaper, paper sacks, all cut to fit to help avoid transplant shock. Will it be worth it to start them indoors like this, This week and then transplant? Or, will I still have transplant shock? Thanks for any advice!

I grow runner beans from transplant almost every year - especially since squirrels dug up an entire row of direct seeded, just as they were coming up. Perhaps that is because the emerging sprouts resemble walnut sprouts.

Your paper-lined pots should work, provided they are large enough. Peat pots have worked well for me, nestled into a layer of sand at the bottom of the tray. Some roots always penetrate the pots; the moist sand prevents those roots from drying out. At time of transplant, I carefully pull those roots out of the sand, and coil them into the hole below the pot. If care is taken to move quickly & water immediately to prevent drying, those extra roots will minimize or eliminate transplant shock. That is the method I use for most bean transplants.

Runner bean seedlings grow fast, so you don't need to start them very early, or they will quickly become root bound. I would recommend 2-3 weeks before the date you would normally expect to direct seed. Unlike common beans, if the first sprout is damaged, the seed will usually send up a second sprout... so if something nips off the first one, watch for that before giving up on them. While runner beans require cooler temperatures to set pods, they still require warm soil for best germination, so they benefit from germinating indoors at room temperature.

 

[Trish Stretton]

What depth would yo recommend when Making paper pots? Been thinking of trying this next season rather than sending all those irritating circulars to the recycling center. and I suppose the glossy ones cant be used.

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks for the advice about keeping the roots wet while in transit to a transplant. Tomatoes can suffer all sorts of shock, and we kinda get used to abusing them. Good to know about the tenderiness you take for other vegetables.

 

[ducks4you]

What depth would yo recommend when Making paper pots? Been thinking of trying this next season rather than sending all those irritating circulars to the recycling center. and I suppose the glossy ones cant be used.

I took dimensions and used cereal boxes to make a form, then trace it onto newspaper with a Sharpie, then fold and use school glue to shut. They fit Inside of the plastic pots. I was too cheap to buy a form.

 

[flowerbug]

Thanks for the advice about keeping the roots wet while in transit to a transplant. Tomatoes can suffer all sorts of shock, and we kinda get used to abusing them. Good to know about the tenderiness you take for other vegetables.

they survive us, we buy them in cells that aren't all that big (maybe a few inches across and deep), but the plants are sometimes nearly a foot tall by the time we plant them. to plant them we wet them down well and then i plant them deep watering them in a few times to makes sure there aren't any large air pockets around the roots. as of yet i can't recall us losing any of what we've planted over the years in tomatoes. they've survived being chewed on by the various tomato worms and the hail and some too cool weather but they keep going until the frosts and diseases finally get them at the end of the season. still productive. i think even our worst year where we had buckeye rot (a one time thing thank goodness) we still had over 15lbs per plant harvested - normal is between 20 - 40lbs per plant.

ObBean: beans are so cute!