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

[flowerbug]

I’m growing the Network bean, Mugungi. So far the plants are very small, not very healthy looking and seem to be struggling.

Has anyone else grown Mugungi?

no, i've not grown those here, but at times it seems some beans are just not happy where they are planted. sometimes it is the seeds are old and other times it is the soil or conditions that don't favor them.

one example of those for me is the Early Warwick. a nice bush bean if grown in perfect garden soil with better drainage than i usually have in most of my gardens with their heavier clay soil. as soon as i planted some of them in the sandier soil garden i have they did much better. i plant a few each year to see if i can get them to acclimate. another example i have is the Fort Portal Jade. they're lovely beans in color and shape but they don't like our hot summer at all so if i don't get them planted soon enough they're struggling to do much at all. Bomba also has a tough time getting good beans here. i didn't even replant either of those this season as i had too many others i wanted to plant.

 

[Blue-Jay]

I’m growing the Network bean, Mugungi. So far the plants are very small, not very healthy looking and seem to be struggling.

Has anyone else grown Mugungi?

Seritabee (Screen Name) from Cornelius, Oregon had grown these in 2018. You could probably PM here through this thread. Perhaps she would respond and give you any input she might have on the bean.

 

[Decoy1]

Yes, thanks flowerbug for this. I guess beans are quite varying in the conditions they like. All the beans growing round Mugungi are thriving. Perhaps as Russ mentions, these originate from Africa and like hotter conditions than I have here.

Fort Portal jade doesn't do very well for me either but I was thinking perhaps[ps it needs hotter conditions! But that doesn’t fit with your experience that your conditions are too hot in the height of summer.

 

[Decoy1]

Thanks Russ. I’ve now found Saritabee’s 2018 contributions on her growing experiences with Mugungi. More positive than mine - runners, flushes of flowers etc. I’ll just have to see how they progress but not promising. Fortunately other Network beans are doing well! 🤞🤞

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Decoy1,

How is the "Ernie's Big Eye" doing? I will be fascinated to see how your seed looks when you harvest them. I also have a set of this bean growing here too.

 

[Artorius]

I also have. That's how Ernie's Big Eye blooms in my swamp.

 

[flowerbug]

Yes, thanks flowerbug for this. I guess beans are quite varying in the conditions they like. All the beans growing round Mugungi are thriving. Perhaps as Russ mentions, these originate from Africa and like hotter conditions than I have here.

Fort Portal jade doesn't do very well for me either but I was thinking perhaps[ps it needs hotter conditions! But that doesn’t fit with your experience that your conditions are too hot in the height of summer.

i was told from @Bluejay77 that FPJ comes from a cooler region and not the hot places. i've only gotten a few good seeds from it every time i've planted. barely getting any seeds back at all. what i need to do next year is see if i can get them planted earlier and then plant a few the next week and for a few weeks after and see what happens. in better drained soil too. i have a row in a garden i can use like this i just have to put it on my list of things to plant and then see what happens...

 

[Pulsegleaner]

It does. Fort Portal Uganda IS only a degree or so from the equator, but it's about 4500-5000 feet up. The climate is coolish year round, I'd imagine, sort of like the Andes.

Planting them early DOES help, SORTA. What will happen is the beans will germinate quite readily in the cool weather. go into near stasis when it gets hot, and then pick up again in the late summer/early fall. (I haven't done FPJ in a while, but I have done things like Bantu (which as far as I can tell, is mostly the same as FPJ except for seed color) and FPV, MG and a lot of the others ones I have done come from Fort Portal as well.)

My biggest problem with them (and why I never got a good crop) is that that hot summer also comes with a healthy dose of leaf blight, which all of them are quite susceptible to. By the time it is cool enough for them to flower, there usually aren't all that many leaves to power a good flush.

 

[flowerbug]

It does. Fort Portal Uganda IS only a degree or so from the equator, but it's about 4500-5000 feet up. The climate is coolish year round, I'd imagine, sort of like the Andes.

Planting them early DOES help, SORTA. What will happen is the beans will germinate quite readily in the cool weather. go into near stasis when it gets hot, and then pick up again in the late summer/early fall. (I haven't done FPJ in a while, but I have done things like Bantu (which as far as I can tell, is mostly the same as FPJ except for seed color) and FPV, MG and a lot of the others ones I have done come from Fort Portal as well.)

My biggest problem with them (and why I never got a good crop) is that that hot summer also comes with a healthy dose of leaf blight, which all of them are quite susceptible to. By the time it is cool enough for them to flower, there usually aren't all that many leaves to power a good flush.

i think your climate is probably pretty similar to ours here. if i can get FPJ to cross with Purple Dove (or an other related bean) it would be really interesting. i'm actually hoping i can get PD to cross with every bean i grow here as a bush bean as so many do not grow as well (plus we really like purple flowers ).

 

[Decoy1]

Interesting information on Fort Portal Jade. Thanks. I'll see how this year's crop go. Not in flower yet.

With Mugungi - and I don't think we know where that comes from - I'm encouraged that some newish growth looks healthier. The older leaves are quite browned though. Any thoughts as to what might cause this yellowing and browning? I have a few varieties showing similar symptoms this year but others inbetween are perfectly green and healthy.

These are the utrongestcplants and at least they seem to be growing away from poor sickly growth