Weird summer for beans for me

lakelady · August 6, 2012

Okay, I probably got mine in about 2 weeks too late. Did my favas and peas early, but the Marconi beans, the cranberry beans and the Good Mother Stallards all got in late. No real flowers to speak of all summer, hence no beans. Also, I had a lot of leaves turning yellow on me, and had no idea what that was. No aphids, no pests I could find. Didn't look like fungus. Just turned yellow and died. Planted on maypole type supports. I thought some of the yellows were due to lack of light because I did plant pretty densely. The rest of the plants looked fabulous though just no beans.

Finally, the past week or two I'm getting flowers and beans. Unfortunately, my marconi beans are getting way too tall. I had a 5' trellis and they are easily over 10' and now meandering over the tops of tomato plants a few feet away. I'm hopeful I can still get decent harvests if things can keep slightly cooler to encourage more flowers.

Did anyone else have an "off" year for beans with all the heat?

Father'sDaughter · August 6, 2012

Same situation here. As of tomorrow night, I will finally have enough marconi beans to actually cook some for the two of us, and I have about 20 plants. Leaves are healthy and thriving at the top, but yellowing and dying near the bottom.

The other variety I'm growing is called Signora Della Campagna - a shelling bean - and while those plants all looked on the verge of death all summer, they're now starting to produce as well.

Zeedman · August 7, 2012

Pretty much the same story here. Thanks to the early warmup & dry Spring, I got all of my garden - including the beans - planted on time. But after germination, the beans just stalled, showed some yellowing, and hardly grew at all during June. I was late applying mulch this year, which may have contributed to the problem; but there was more stunting than could be caused by that alone.

Most of the beans have recovered now & are growing vigorously. However, they are way behind normal. Since I grow most of my beans for seed, it could be a real challenge to get a good crop before frost.

Interestingly, it was only common beans, runner beans, and cowpeas that were affected. Limas, soybeans, and adzuki have been growing well from the start, and are on track for a banner year. Some of my peas, though, have already produced their dry seed, while others have just begun to bloom. I count my blessings that the soup peas are still alive & healthy, considering the heat they have been through.

tjg911 · August 8, 2012

it's hard to say if i have lower bean production because 3 of the 4 varieties are new. the 1 that isn't new seems to be a seed mistake as i have 2 plants that appear to be mr. tung. i do think all 3 varieties are slow and producing less than i expected but pole beans typically are later but once they start they really produce a lot. mr. tung and uncle steve were trimmed back by the deer so it may be some of the problem. i tried different things to stop the deer but the unused tomato stakes with dental floss boxing in the trellis has stopped the deer and now plants can grow without being set back.

tom

rxkeith · August 8, 2012

it has been slow here. i started most of my pole beans in doors to get a jump on the season after unfavorable weather last year prevented the beans from sprouting. right after planting we had a week of hot weather that stalled them for about 3 weeks. meraviglia di venezia which i seeded outdoors the same day i planted the bean seedlings is starting to produce, as are a few of the others. i didn't come out any farther ahead starting the seeds in doors this year. normally early june weather here can still have an edge to it. i just picked a bunch of bush beans. they are doing fine.

keith

lakelady · August 9, 2012

Do beans cross easily, or do you need to grow in different locations to prevent cross pollination? I have 3 varieties which are all far apart in different parts of the property. It would have been easier to keep them together honestly.

Tormato · August 9, 2012

Antoniette,

They do not cross easily. I average about 1 in 275 saved seed that cross. All of the crosses involved the variety Jeminez.

As for your weird summer with beans, I think it's a combination of weather and your bean varieties.

I haven't tried Marconi, but have trialed Supermarconi for several seasons. In hot weather it has produced very poorly. In cooler weather (the summerless 2009) it was my best producer. It is my favorite snap bean for flavor, so I try to have at least a few plants each year.

True Red Cranberry has never produced much of anything, for me.

Good Mother Stallard is the latest to mature bean I've ever trialed. So, it might be you just have to wait for it.

Gary

delltraveller · August 9, 2012

I've had nothing from my pole beans. For awhile the birds were eating any blossoms that formed and some of the new growth. Can't blame them; it's been so hot and their natural food sources are absent or minimal. I had some bush beans, before the spider mites got the plants. I think I should have kept up my watering schedule instead of cutting back on them. The spider mites didn't take over until I cut back. The bush beans were planted along three sides of a raised bed, between the bed wall and a soaker hose. It worked pretty well, giving them a little micro-climate.

halleone · August 9, 2012

Same here. My Christmas lima's did finally set on some pods, but given the size of the planting, they aren't going to amount to much of anything. Good Mother Stallard, same size planting, keeps making blossoms that apparently get cooked in the 100-106 temps, and they fall off; I haven't found a single pod set-on, and it is getting too late for them to mature if they do finally do.

Boutique Tomatoes · August 9, 2012

I planted two new varieties this year, which I was blaming for my poor bean production. Now I'm going to give them another try next year to see if it was the strange weather...

lakelady · August 9, 2012

Thanks Tormato, good to know. So next year it would be possible to keep all the beans in one area. Had I known this, I would have grown far more. Then again, maybe it just wasn't a great bean year. I do have some Trionfo Violetto that I never got in the ground. It says 60 days, wonder if it is too late to try a few? Our first frost is between 10/15-10/30.

The Cranberry Beans are starting to produce now, so I do hope I get enough out of them as I love the flavor! I keep dreaming of baked beans and all sorts of dry bean dishes this winter, yum!

I'll have to try and get some supermarconi for next year for sure!

RebelRidin · August 9, 2012

My pole beans that I planted in mid April did not set any blossoms until the heat broke in the middle of July. I planted Fortex and Northeaster.

Northester is doing well now after the heat. It is producing goodly numbers of 3/4 to 1 inch wide pods from 8 to 12 inches long. They are good flavor (IMHO) and the J Beatles left them alone too.

Fortex never did do anything. It bloomed and bloomed, didn't set anything to speak of (not even after the heat passed) and they were beatle magnets. I ripped them out last weekend in favor of some fall beets.

tjg911 · August 9, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakelady

So next year it would be possible to keep all the beans in one area. ....... I do have some Trionfo Violetto that I never got in the ground. It says 60 days, wonder if it is too late to try a few? Our first frost is between 10/15-10/30.

i always plant my pole beans on 1 side of my trellis and they never have crossed.

i think it is way too late to plant now. 6o dtm that puts you at 10/9 and here that's when things start to end due to really cold nights and freezes. i cover my beans and sometimes have them going to 10/20 but the days are so short and the sun so weak not much is growing it's more finishing up the small beans after columbus day. you can try but it's really late. remember they grew and took x days and that was during the longest and hottest days of the year, we're 3 weeks from labor day. i'd advise against it if it was 7/9!

tom

Tormato · August 10, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakelady

Thanks Tormato, good to know. So next year it would be possible to keep all the beans in one area. Had I known this, I would have grown far more. Then again, maybe it just wasn't a great bean year. I do have some Trionfo Violetto that I never got in the ground. It says 60 days, wonder if it is too late to try a few? Our first frost is between 10/15-10/30.

The Cranberry Beans are starting to produce now, so I do hope I get enough out of them as I love the flavor! I keep dreaming of baked beans and all sorts of dry bean dishes this winter, yum!

I'll have to try and get some supermarconi for next year for sure!

Antoniette,

I'll add Supermarconi to your tomato request list. I have 100+ varieties of beans (bush and pole, snap and dry), if you're looking for anything else.

Rattlesnake is the ONE bean I'll always recommend for HIGH heat. It's never failed me, when many others have. This year, after trading/swapping, I was down to my last seed. The plant from that seed is doing great. After several pickings, I'm now going to let the rest go to seed.

All of my beans are doing great, so far. Just when the high temps came down is when the plants started blooming.

As for planting several varieties near each other, the only problem I could see is taller varieties shading out shorter ones.

Gary

lakelady · August 10, 2012

Tom, well...I do have another earthtainer I had made that isn't being used . If I tried a few beans in it now, I could always bring it onto the screen porch (not heated and I put the windows in it after labor day) so I might gain a few degrees or prevent frost. Maybe I'll toss a few in to try it out. I think the supports would be the toughest part of that, but who knows. I seriously need more garden space. lol

Gary, thank you! I can't believe you grew one plant from one seed, whew that was good luck for you that it germinated. There are so many different bean varieties, it's almost overwhelming to someone like me who only is familiar with a few. Then there is the whole Runner and Half Runner Bean thing which still has me scratching my head lol....what can I say, I'm a newb when it comes to beans. I grew the blue lake beans for years, and never even thought of anything else even though I wasn't crazy about those.

I'm going to have to rethink my gardens for next year, I want to grow more beans !

August 6, 2012	#1
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	Weird summer for beans for me Okay, I probably got mine in about 2 weeks too late. Did my favas and peas early, but the Marconi beans, the cranberry beans and the Good Mother Stallards all got in late. No real flowers to speak of all summer, hence no beans. Also, I had a lot of leaves turning yellow on me, and had no idea what that was. No aphids, no pests I could find. Didn't look like fungus. Just turned yellow and died. Planted on maypole type supports. I thought some of the yellows were due to lack of light because I did plant pretty densely. The rest of the plants looked fabulous though just no beans. Finally, the past week or two I'm getting flowers and beans. Unfortunately, my marconi beans are getting way too tall. I had a 5' trellis and they are easily over 10' and now meandering over the tops of tomato plants a few feet away. I'm hopeful I can still get decent harvests if things can keep slightly cooler to encourage more flowers. Did anyone else have an "off" year for beans with all the heat? __________________ Antoniette

August 8, 2012	#4
tjg911 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut Posts: 2,570	it's hard to say if i have lower bean production because 3 of the 4 varieties are new. the 1 that isn't new seems to be a seed mistake as i have 2 plants that appear to be mr. tung. i do think all 3 varieties are slow and producing less than i expected but pole beans typically are later but once they start they really produce a lot. mr. tung and uncle steve were trimmed back by the deer so it may be some of the problem. i tried different things to stop the deer but the unused tomato stakes with dental floss boxing in the trellis has stopped the deer and now plants can grow without being set back. tom __________________ I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night He’s gotta be strong And he’s gotta be fast And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light He’s gotta be sure And it’s gotta be soon And he’s gotta be larger than life

August 9, 2012	#6
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	Do beans cross easily, or do you need to grow in different locations to prevent cross pollination? I have 3 varieties which are all far apart in different parts of the property. It would have been easier to keep them together honestly. __________________ Antoniette

August 9, 2012	#11
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	Thanks Tormato, good to know. So next year it would be possible to keep all the beans in one area. Had I known this, I would have grown far more. Then again, maybe it just wasn't a great bean year. I do have some Trionfo Violetto that I never got in the ground. It says 60 days, wonder if it is too late to try a few? Our first frost is between 10/15-10/30. The Cranberry Beans are starting to produce now, so I do hope I get enough out of them as I love the flavor! I keep dreaming of baked beans and all sorts of dry bean dishes this winter, yum! I'll have to try and get some supermarconi for next year for sure! __________________ Antoniette

August 9, 2012	#12
RebelRidin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Maryland's Eastern Shore Posts: 993	My pole beans that I planted in mid April did not set any blossoms until the heat broke in the middle of July. I planted Fortex and Northeaster. Northester is doing well now after the heat. It is producing goodly numbers of 3/4 to 1 inch wide pods from 8 to 12 inches long. They are good flavor (IMHO) and the J Beatles left them alone too. Fortex never did do anything. It bloomed and bloomed, didn't set anything to speak of (not even after the heat passed) and they were beatle magnets. I ripped them out last weekend in favor of some fall beets. __________________ George _____________________________ "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure." Thomas Jefferson, 1787

August 6, 2012	#2
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,917	Same situation here. As of tomorrow night, I will finally have enough marconi beans to actually cook some for the two of us, and I have about 20 plants. Leaves are healthy and thriving at the top, but yellowing and dying near the bottom. The other variety I'm growing is called Signora Della Campagna - a shelling bean - and while those plants all looked on the verge of death all summer, they're now starting to produce as well.

August 7, 2012	#3
Zeedman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 313	Pretty much the same story here. Thanks to the early warmup & dry Spring, I got all of my garden - including the beans - planted on time. But after germination, the beans just stalled, showed some yellowing, and hardly grew at all during June. I was late applying mulch this year, which may have contributed to the problem; but there was more stunting than could be caused by that alone. Most of the beans have recovered now & are growing vigorously. However, they are way behind normal. Since I grow most of my beans for seed, it could be a real challenge to get a good crop before frost. Interestingly, it was only common beans, runner beans, and cowpeas that were affected. Limas, soybeans, and adzuki have been growing well from the start, and are on track for a banner year. Some of my peas, though, have already produced their dry seed, while others have just begun to bloom. I count my blessings that the soup peas are still alive & healthy, considering the heat they have been through.

August 8, 2012	#5
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,839	it has been slow here. i started most of my pole beans in doors to get a jump on the season after unfavorable weather last year prevented the beans from sprouting. right after planting we had a week of hot weather that stalled them for about 3 weeks. meraviglia di venezia which i seeded outdoors the same day i planted the bean seedlings is starting to produce, as are a few of the others. i didn't come out any farther ahead starting the seeds in doors this year. normally early june weather here can still have an edge to it. i just picked a bunch of bush beans. they are doing fine. keith

August 9, 2012	#7
Tormato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MA Posts: 4,959	Antoniette, They do not cross easily. I average about 1 in 275 saved seed that cross. All of the crosses involved the variety Jeminez. As for your weird summer with beans, I think it's a combination of weather and your bean varieties. I haven't tried Marconi, but have trialed Supermarconi for several seasons. In hot weather it has produced very poorly. In cooler weather (the summerless 2009) it was my best producer. It is my favorite snap bean for flavor, so I try to have at least a few plants each year. True Red Cranberry has never produced much of anything, for me. Good Mother Stallard is the latest to mature bean I've ever trialed. So, it might be you just have to wait for it. Gary

August 9, 2012	#8
delltraveller Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Iowa Posts: 481	I've had nothing from my pole beans. For awhile the birds were eating any blossoms that formed and some of the new growth. Can't blame them; it's been so hot and their natural food sources are absent or minimal. I had some bush beans, before the spider mites got the plants. I think I should have kept up my watering schedule instead of cutting back on them. The spider mites didn't take over until I cut back. The bush beans were planted along three sides of a raised bed, between the bed wall and a soaker hose. It worked pretty well, giving them a little micro-climate.

August 9, 2012	#9
halleone Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Walla Walla, Washington Posts: 360	Same here. My Christmas lima's did finally set on some pods, but given the size of the planting, they aren't going to amount to much of anything. Good Mother Stallard, same size planting, keeps making blossoms that apparently get cooked in the 100-106 temps, and they fall off; I haven't found a single pod set-on, and it is getting too late for them to mature if they do finally do.

August 9, 2012	#10
Boutique Tomatoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Northeast Wisconsin, Zone 5a Posts: 1,109	I planted two new varieties this year, which I was blaming for my poor bean production. Now I'm going to give them another try next year to see if it was the strange weather...

August 10, 2012	#15
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	Tom, well...I do have another earthtainer I had made that isn't being used . If I tried a few beans in it now, I could always bring it onto the screen porch (not heated and I put the windows in it after labor day) so I might gain a few degrees or prevent frost. Maybe I'll toss a few in to try it out. I think the supports would be the toughest part of that, but who knows. I seriously need more garden space. lol Gary, thank you! I can't believe you grew one plant from one seed, whew that was good luck for you that it germinated. There are so many different bean varieties, it's almost overwhelming to someone like me who only is familiar with a few. Then there is the whole Runner and Half Runner Bean thing which still has me scratching my head lol....what can I say, I'm a newb when it comes to beans. I grew the blue lake beans for years, and never even thought of anything else even though I wasn't crazy about those. I'm going to have to rethink my gardens for next year, I want to grow more beans ! __________________ Antoniette