Growing Vegetable Beans - 2

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

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Growing vegetable beans near St. Petersburg

It is known from the literature that beans do not grow on cold, acidic and waterlogged soil. But, unfortunately, my new experimental plot is unfavorable for growing beans: the edge of the swamp, skinny sand with a thin surface layer of peat, therefore, perhaps not all tested varieties showed their potential.

The beans were grown on raised (to avoid waterlogging of the root system) ridges 1 m wide, 5 m long and 15 cm high.

On the surface of the beds, 5 buckets of annual prefabricated plant compost, 1 kg of dolomite flour and 100 g of boric acid were preliminarily introduced. He mixed everything with a pitchfork. Then he poured 250 g of a mixture of azophoska and magnesium sulfate in a 6: 1 ratio over the surface, and mixed everything with a single-tooth cultivator to a depth of 15 cm.

I marked rows across the bed at a distance of 40 cm from each other. In a row, after 15 cm, I marked the nests, in each of which I sowed 1-2 beans of beans to a depth of 5-7 cm. In the nest, the distance between the seeds was about 3-5 cm. I planted one variety of beans per row according to the scheme, watered the bed and covered with lutrasil.

It was on May 23rd. I chose the time of sowing beans so that after it two weeks would pass until the end of the first decade of June, when the threat of the last spring frosts is possible. Of course, the best results according to the past many years of experience would have been in the case of planting 30-day-old bean seedlings, but in the present experiment, a simplified cultivation option was tested (in 2002, due to late return spring frosts, I died of 12 varieties of twisted bean seedlings, which was extremely offensive).

Two weeks after the emergence of sprouts, the lutrasil removed the lutrasil from most varieties of beans, since excess air humidity was created under it, which negatively affected the state of the plants (spots appeared on young leaves). The diseased plants did not recover and later died. When the plants grew up to 10-15 cm, I fed them with a solution of the mentioned fertilizer mixture with a concentration of 50 g / 10 l, 1 liter per nest under the root and spud.

Hilling bean stems is necessary to reduce harm from the wind, which flutters the stems, breaking off the surface roots and thereby reducing the yield, and to prevent the stem from lodging with the crop to the ground, which is fraught with rotting bean pods due to the presence of a large amount of sugars, proteins and vitamins, which are a favorable environment for the rapid growth of soil bacteria. (In the case of growing asparagus beans on loamy soil, it is advisable to take measures to prevent the pods from contacting the moist soil surface.) I fed every two weeks with a solution of the same concentration and in the same volume.

Basically, all varieties, except for Yubileynaya 287, had the shape of bushes up to 40 cm high. From mid-July, he began collecting beans for food (cabbage soup, borsch, stewed vegetables) and for preparation (freezing and canning). The pods were cut off at the moment when they reached their maximum length and acquired a characteristic golden-yellow color, in case they were wax varieties. I tried not to overgrow the pods, which makes them coarse. He marked the very first beans on 1-2 bushes of beans of different varieties with a colored cloth and did not pick them until the end of the growing season (for seeds). The beans were harvested every 1-2 weeks.

I evaluated the varieties, taking into account the unfavorable weather conditions of the past summer, comparing the yield of varieties, palatability (valve consistency and grain size) and aesthetics (color and presence of constrictions along the length) of the beans.

The results of growing vegetable bush beans in 2003 are shown in the table

The Fantazia variety proved to be the most productive; Cropper type, Oil King and Panther were somewhat inferior in yield to it. Bean pods of varieties Butter King and Fantasia had juicy fleshy valves and reached a weight of 12 g. Pods of asparagus beans of varieties Laura, Nerina and Allur had a lower weight (up to 6 g, and, naturally, a lower relative yield), but a delicate consistency. Sachs varieties without fiber, Cropper type, Laura, Allure, Nerina, Oil king. Panther and Fantasia showed sufficient resistance to diseases, despite the unfavorable growing conditions in 2003. The most beautiful and elegant were the waxy bean bushes with yellow pods,

For some reason, the Yubileynaya 287 beans turned out to be not bush, not yellow, and not vegetable (coarse pods with large grains), but fruitful.

In conclusion, I want to give some tips for increasing the quantity and quality of the bean harvest for beginners:

• select seeds for sowing as large as possible, not diseased (smooth, without rot spots), without traces of damage by bean weevil;
• grow beans with 14-28-day seedlings in pots (especially for curly beans: the roots of the seedlings rest against the bottom and begin to bend, which will then slow down the growth of the stem in height and accelerate the onset of fruiting) 3-5 grains (5 grains - in case uncertainty about the quality of seeds: the company is unfamiliar or has lost its reputation, the seeds are feeble, wrinkled, with spots) or for landscaping (obtaining biomass for further composting);
• be sure to apply fertilizers such as Mittlider's No. 1 and No. 2, ash (up to a glass) and compost (up to 2 buckets) per 1 square meter; - make a bed up to 100 cm wide (a wide bed makes it difficult to collect the shoulder blades, since it is inconvenient to stretch);
• cover the bed with lutrasil in the initial period to increase the temperature of the growing season, which will accelerate the development of plants;
• be sure to sprinkle the stems with soil when they reach a height of 10-15 cm;
• regularly feed the plants after the beginning of flowering with a solution of mineral and organic fertilizers (but not more often than twice a month), which leads to a sharp increase in yield;
• cut off the stems with seed beans after the air temperature has dropped to the "freezing" temperature of beans development (before the first autumn frosts) and hang them in a dry frost-free room for seeds ripening.

Good luck to everyone, health and joy!