Weird summer for beans for me - Page 2

lakelady · August 10, 2012

What eats bean pods? I noticed something has chewed some of mine ...holes on one side of a flat bean pod. Sheesh. As if the caterpillars on the tomatoes were not enough...

This summer was a never ending battle of fighting off one thing or another.

tjg911 · August 11, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakelady

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

go ahead and try this if you want to. i wanted to warn you because i just would be disappointed if i did this and had nice plants and before they set flowers a hard freeze comes and kills the plants or they just grow slowly and never produce flowers. so it's just a warning but try it to see what happens as long as you know it's a long shot.

i would not bring it inside after labor day, that's way too early. i'd wait until the night temps are say below 55. you can keep bean plants warm but i suspect the weak sun in october will not stimulate them to grow much if at all, i've seen this with lettuce, chard, cabbage, broccoli all things that like cooler temps but grow in long day light much better than short days with weak sun. beans are summer plants and grow well in warm temps with strong sun light. i think the weak sun is more of a problem than the cold will be.

tom

blackthumbmary · August 12, 2012

As some one who has tried growing beans indoors (during late fall and winter and failed-using natural light only), I will second what tjg911 says in that weak sun is more of a problem then cold. I am always able to get my beans to the bean setting stage indoors...but they are weak looking..thin steams and very small flower buds. The the lack of natural pollinators in my house results in almost no beans of course..I think the occasional house fly has pollinated a few

I live in southern Indiana and regularly plant my beans starting the end of the first week of April. I put a nice dense padding of old grass hay around the plants...and over them during the nights we get frost alerts. In the event of a hard frost, I will put a super dense layer of hay over the plants at night. The plants do fine as long as no moisture gets on the leaves. Moisture getting on the plants and freezing has been my enemy with early planted beans..not the soil or ambient temperatures.

Good luck and keep us posted with your results....I would love to find out that one could grow beans indoors and extend the season without resorting to a green house or grow lights

Back to the original topic: weird season for beans. The heat in s. Indiana (98-103 F and above for months) has caused sterility/bean setting issues...some bean varieties (greasies, cutshorts, & half runners) showing more issues than others (Rattlesnake seems to set until you get over 100F...then it depends...). Add in a severe drought and the beans you get often have tough leathery hulls..even when relatively young. Most of my beans seemed to age faster in that they got tough more quickly...and dried out. I was able to pull dried beans for seed almost a month earlier than normal since it was so dry.

The good news is that we finally got a break in the heat, so many of pole beans are now setting once again....and producing nice tender hulled beans.

Hope everyone gets a nice break from the heat...some rain...and lots of beans.

August 10, 2012	#16
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	What eats bean pods? I noticed something has chewed some of mine ...holes on one side of a flat bean pod. Sheesh. As if the caterpillars on the tomatoes were not enough... This summer was a never ending battle of fighting off one thing or another. __________________ Antoniette

August 12, 2012	#18
blackthumbmary Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Indiana Posts: 15	As some one who has tried growing beans indoors (during late fall and winter and failed-using natural light only), I will second what tjg911 says in that weak sun is more of a problem then cold. I am always able to get my beans to the bean setting stage indoors...but they are weak looking..thin steams and very small flower buds. The the lack of natural pollinators in my house results in almost no beans of course..I think the occasional house fly has pollinated a few I live in southern Indiana and regularly plant my beans starting the end of the first week of April. I put a nice dense padding of old grass hay around the plants...and over them during the nights we get frost alerts. In the event of a hard frost, I will put a super dense layer of hay over the plants at night. The plants do fine as long as no moisture gets on the leaves. Moisture getting on the plants and freezing has been my enemy with early planted beans..not the soil or ambient temperatures. Good luck and keep us posted with your results....I would love to find out that one could grow beans indoors and extend the season without resorting to a green house or grow lights Back to the original topic: weird season for beans. The heat in s. Indiana (98-103 F and above for months) has caused sterility/bean setting issues...some bean varieties (greasies, cutshorts, & half runners) showing more issues than others (Rattlesnake seems to set until you get over 100F...then it depends...). Add in a severe drought and the beans you get often have tough leathery hulls..even when relatively young. Most of my beans seemed to age faster in that they got tough more quickly...and dried out. I was able to pull dried beans for seed almost a month earlier than normal since it was so dry. The good news is that we finally got a break in the heat, so many of pole beans are now setting once again....and producing nice tender hulled beans. Hope everyone gets a nice break from the heat...some rain...and lots of beans.