Have you Bean there and done that? Bean advice needed plz!

[Mrs Dobby]

Hi Gang!

As you probably know, Mr D and I are new to GYOing, and have BEAN given some Beans and peas by another grape (to go with the single varieites we already had), and I wondered if anyone could offer us a little advice!

I am of the opinion that we can grow different varieties of Beans on either side of a cane support wigwam affair (running North/South), but Mr D thinks that we should only grow a single variety on each set of supports, are we ok doing it my way, or should I admit defeat and let him know he's actually right (for once! )

Also, can anyone offer us any specific growing advice for any of the varieties we have, then it would be appreciated, as we really want to do them justice!
I'll be using the Borlotti and Kentucky as a part of the 3 sisters beds, as we've 2 types of sweetcorn, so will be doing 2 of the 3 sisters beds, one with each variety in with the sweetcorn and squashes!

The varieties we have are

Blue Lake Bean
Soya Bean
Blue and White Bean
Kentucky Wonder Bean
Pea Bean (Climbing Bean)
Lima Bean (Christmas Pole)
Mini D'Or Dwarf French bean
Royal Red Dwarf French bean
Borlotti Bean
Express Broad Bean

Carlin Pea
Victorian Purple Pod Pea
Rondo Pea

Many thanks in advance!

[rustylady]

Depends on how many of each sort you are growing. Obviously, climbing beans and dwarf beans need separate plots. If you have a lot of climbing beans I would think they would be OK on the same frame, but plant them in batches instead of mixing them, and label the batches so you know what is what. You'd be surprised how similar they look when they are growing.

[Two_Sheds]

Look on your packet for the planting distance of each variety. My Purple Queen dwarfs go in only 5cm apart (but they don't need poles, obviously). Get your planting distance right, then put in poles accordingly.
When doing your 3 Sisters bed, match up the height of finished bean to height of finished sweetcorn - last year my Borlotti were 7 foot tall and my Corn 3 foot tall!

[Hazel at the Hill]

LOL! Thanks for that, Twosheds - the mental picture has made me chuckle!

[shirlthegirl43]

Two Sheds - do you have any pictures? Sounds a laugh!

[Earthbabe]

Hi Mrs D. I planted some purple climbers and borlottis around the same wigwam frame last year and judging by some of the produce there was some cross-pollination going on. The little so and sos.

Unfortunately the cross pollinated beans were not great, but this year it will be single variety only on each one. Although the runners weren't affected and they got mixed in on one wigwam too so I may do runners on one side of my trench and purple climbing (Blauhilde) on t'other.

Doubt that helps much though.

[Two_Sheds]

French Beans don't usually cross with each other, so you can save seed from several varieties without worry.

Runner Beans DO cross very easily, so only grow one type if you want to keep the seed.

Broad Beans also cross A LOT and are hard to keep for seed as you need to isolate them from others with 1/2 a mile or so.

Also, be sure that you don't plant types with similar-coloured seeds next to each other, otherwise you'll not be sure which plant they come from!
Lifted from:
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/beans.html

[Snadger]

There are two types of Borlotti beans and I grew both last year! One is climbing and one is not. For me the climbing ones did excellent and the others were rubbish. Mine grew to 8' 0" and would have been taller if the support canes were bigger!
They are very similar to runner beans, but the pods are more akin to broad beans. I grew climbing borlotti on one side and butter beans on the other (very similar growth patterns)

Personally, when I grow my beans this year I will keep one type of bean per wigwam or cane support for various reasons (make that a double Dobby )

Why not go for an Indian village theme to your lottie with all your wigwams? Light a fire in the middle and you could save a fortune on phone bills by using smoke signals!

[sweetcorn]

Well, what a naive little gardener I am. I hadn't taken into account any promiscuity between beans, and have planted on the same wigwam borlotti, french and butter beans. I harvested what seemed like perfectly normal beans with no signs of any untoward activity. Maybe I was just lucky??? I have done this for the last 2 years.

[Snadger]

Well, what a naive little gardener I am. I hadn't taken into account any promiscuity between beans, and have planted on the same wigwam borlotti, french and butter beans. I harvested what seemed like perfectly normal beans with no signs of any untoward activity. Maybe I was just lucky??? I have done this for the last 2 years.

Do your borlotti not taste a bit french buttery then?

[Mrs Dobby]

Problem we have is that we have no seed packets, as we were sent most of the varieties from another grape, from saved seeds, so not quite as easy as reading the packet!

So, if the beans are promiscuous we'd be better off keeping them seperate, so a better idea would be to grow one type of bean along one side of a run, and perhaps a pea on the other side, as this would mean less chance of cross pollination?

Looks like Mr D was right, darn it!

[madderbat]

Mrs D
We were given the borlotti beans, and have passed some on to you, so I don't know exactly. I believe they are not the very tall climbers, as our neighbour didn't appear to be reaching for the sky on his lottie. I will ask him when we get down there again (but he doesn't come very often in winter).
I do know that he didn't plant them until the end of May because we had just got back from holiday, so no rush, but more than that ....
Will keep you posted.

[nutsaboutveggies]

we are going to try and grow runner beans this year..
we have just got a 200 sq yard allotment and are trying to sort it out at the mo, the previous tenant left it in a right state!
good luck with your beans!

[SueA]

Hi Mrs D., no idea about growing beans on either side of the rows but I was interested to see you're growing soya beans. I've noticed you can buy green soya beans frozen like peas now & have had fresh ones in salads from M&S & they are lovely, hope they grow well for you, let us know how they go on.

[Earthbabe]

Yes I'd be interested in hearing about the soya beans. Hessayon reckons they are hit and miss in our country and as you are a little further north then I am. I was thinking of trying chick peas this year.