Do French Beans cross-polinate

[bikermike]

picking beans (Blauhilde possibly), I noticed there were some that were nearly white, and other pods that were definitely brown. They were all planted from the same seed, but that marked difference in pod contents wasn't noted in the seed going in.

I know broad beans are notorious for it....

[Guest]

they can cross but don't usually. However when saving seed there should be a degree of separation for purity reasons.

[Thelma Sanders]

Yes, they can. They're supposed to self pollinate before the flowers open, but Realseeds say

French beans are self-pollinating, mostly before the flowers open. Despite this, they can be crossed by insects with other varieties nearby. The extent of crossing varies by area. If you are just saving seed for your own use, grow your seed crop of french beans at least 6 feet away from any other variety (12 feet if possible), and you are unlikely to have a significant problem with crossing in the UK.

[SarrissUK]

The beans might be of varying degrees of dryness too - my Swedish brown beans are white until they start to dry and go patchy, then entirely brown.

[Mark_Riga]

I thin some bought seed show signs of impurity. I'm growing a CFB Soisson which should be a flat white bean which they mostly are but a few I've harvested have definitely been round.