Field notes for Bed #8, the bed with the African varieties, and also has the Peas. The Peas were planted a month or so earlier on March 11th. The Peas are just taller than their 6 foot pole/cages and are setting and maturing their pods right now. In another month or two the peas will be carefully removed to give more space for the Beans.
RED RAJMA
LARGE LEANING BUSH.
POSSIBLE BUDS SHOWING.
MPUMALANGA BOONTJIS
MEDIUM TO TALL BUSH.
MANY FLOWERS BEGINNING TO OPEN TODAY.
RED SPECKLED
CLASSIC BUSH.
NO BUDS YET.
ANNEY'S AFRICAN
TENDER THIN VINED POLE, WITH SMALL LEAVES.
NO BUDS YET.
HALF WHITE SUGAR
SPREADING MULTISTEMMED POLE.
POSSIBLE BUDS SHOWING.
WITSA
STRONG AND FAST GROWING POLE, GROWING RIGHT UP THE STEMS OF THE MATURE AND TALL PEA PLANTS.
NO BUDS YET.
BIZANA
SMALLISH STOUT AND PRETTY BUSH.
ALMOST OPEN FLOWERS.
NYIMO
DEFINITELY A DIFFERENT GENUS. STILL SMALL, AVERAGING ABOUT 3 TO 4 INCHES TALL BY 4 TO 6 INCHES WIDE. NO CENTRAL STEM. GROWS ESSENTIALLY AS A ROSETTE, AT LEAST SO FAR.
NO BUDS YET.
MARICO
DEVELOPING MULTIPLE HEAVY, POINTED, (INDETERMINATE LOOKING), SHORT RUNNERS. STOUT, SPREADING, AND SLIGHTLY LEANING PLANTS.
I THINK THESE MAY BECOME A TRUE 4 FOOT TALL HALF RUNNER POLE. PLANTS ARE NICE AND HEALTHY AND STOUT. COMMERCIAL HALF RUNNER TYPE.
POSSIBLE BUDS SHOWING.
IMBALI
CLASSIC BUSH.
POSSIBLE BUDS SHOWING.
WHITE COCO
GOOD SMALL PLANTS WITH SMALL LEAVES THAT SEEMS TO BE A TRUE VINEY BUSH.
POSSIBLE BUDS.
FEIJAO PRETO BRASILEITO
CLASSIC BUSH.
NO BUDS YET.
This bed had the seeds to soil first in my garden, but several things are different about how they were planted. It was the first bed I made with the antigopher caging, and was sort of a prototype. I made this cage go all the way down into the base soil, and also made it go above the soil level almost a foot. Both too deep and too high for what is needed. On the other hand, that means this bed could have easily been covered had there been a late frost. So it's a good bed for earliest plantings.
With the plastic rising almost a foot up more reflected light hits the plants while direct light misses some of them in it early and late in the day.
Also, the Beans were planted in patches of 3, in triangular formation, and a good number of them I did not know their pattern of growth.
It's working out well so far, but for uniformity and comparisons it is hard to tell.
I have another planting of the African varieties in Bed #5, and those are planted in my more uniform method, rows of 3, 9" X 12". Those should be ready for pre flowering field notes in a week or two as bed 5 was planted later.
Next field notes should be the Lima Bean bed in the next few days.