Saving bean seeds - crossing?

[tam91]

I'm toying with the idea of trying to save some bean seeds next year. However, I don't have the room to geographically isolate them. But, I generally plant different types. What I'm not sure of, is what can cross with what. I'm currently planning:

Scarlet Runner Beans

Neckargold (yellow) pole beans
Blue Lake pole beans
Jeminez pole beans

Blue lake (or other) bush beans
Gold rush (wax) bush beans

Will any/all of these cross with each other? Are any of these safe from crossing?

Anything one can do, other than geographic isolation?

Oh, and I suppose I have to figure out which ones are open pollinated. I'll go off and have a hunt and see what I can figure out about that.

[fortyonenorth]

I think all of the beans self-pollinate before the flower opens. In other words, like tomatoes, very little chance of cross-pollination.

[tam91]

Thank you - I did read that. But I also read you needed to have 150 feet between varieties, which isn't gonna happen here. Seems a bit of conflicting info.

[RinTinTin]

You can also stagger the planting dates so they are not in bloom at the same time.
(A method commonly used in corn fields.)

[tam91]

That's a good idea. Except, for me, the pole beans especially flower continuously once they start. Strangely, I even get a pretty long period with the bush beans.

I suspect that perhaps runners don't cross with green beans don't cross with yellow beans. But I'm not sure of that.

[Mrs.B _in_WY]

I've also read the cross-pollination rate is low but that, just like with tomatoes, it can vary widely. I seem to recall a post where a person experienced something like 50% cross pollination on a certain type.

I'm not an expert, but I believe the Scarlet Runner bean is Phaseolus coccineus while all the others are Phaseolus vulgaris. That said, the Scarlet Runner might be safe from crossing, but the other varieties could show some. I usually plant a mix of varieties and colors to grow up the chain link fence next to the alley. I save seed from year to year and have a lot of volunteers as well. So far, I haven't noticed anything especially unusual, but I don't pay a whole lot of attention.

Regarding Neckargold and Jeminez. I tried both of them for the first time in 2010 and loved them both. Neckargold seldom made it into the house. It was so delicious straight from the garden. It was the first to be ready to pick, slowed down a bit mid-summer but picked up again in early fall. Jeminez came on just a little later and never slowed down or let up. I didn't think the flavor was quite as ... maybe "delicate" is the word ... as Neckargold, but I enjoyed it just the same.

Oh, yes. I've read of people separating beans by a barrier crop row. Probably something tall, possibly something very attractive to the local pollinators.

Good luck!

[rxkeith]

runner beans are more apt to cross with each other from what i have read, so plant only one type of those at a time.
bean crossing can vary with variety type. overall, its a pretty low percent rate. i have had some crossing occur with my uncle steve seeds once in awhile over the past 35 ears or so.
not that often, and never many seeds. its easy for me to rogue out the odd cross in the home garden. not so easy for someone supplying 10 lbs of seed to a seed catalog.
just be on the look out for bean pods that don't look right, blossoms that are a different color, and seeds that are colored different.
growing barrier crops between rows are helpful. i also read some one on the bean forum at a different site mention growing squash nearby helps cut down on crossing. bees go after the squash blossoms rather than the beans.
i would expect your beans will more than likely grow true to type without doing anything special to isolate them. if you had a very rare variety that you did not want to cross, you could bag some blossoms with bags made out of tulle. remove the bag once the bean starts to grow. i'm too lazy to do that.


keith

[Tormato]

My crossing is about 1 in 275 beans. That's 0.36%. It's not something to worry about, unless your name is Jack and your one bean is magic.

Tormato

[tam91]

Haha well I'm female, so my name isn't Jack.

That's pretty good odds.