Yard-long Beans

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by wolf, Sep 9, 2009.

  1. wolf

    wolf Active Member

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    Location:
    Waterloo, Ont
    This year I planted about 32 yard-long beans, 4 seedlings per stake. However due to cold weather and insects and diseases, most of them died. I managed to have a few left. There are 3 varieties, green, mosiac, and red. When cooked they are very tender and somewhat nutty. Most yard-long beans I find in Asian food stores tend to be hard and less tasteful. These beans are great for Septembre, just after green beans and pole beans peak off.

    The beans didn't start growing until late July. They are not growing very well because of the cold weather this year. The beans are lying on ground, indicating they are earlier settings. As the season progresses (if the climate is warm enough) more beans will be set higher on the vine and the settings on top of the plant would indicate end of season.

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  2. JanR

    JanR Active Member

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    Location:
    Lakeland, Manitoba
    Interesting! I have considered growing the yard long beans. Which of the 3 varieties was your favorite. How much later are they than regular beans? I have only just picked most of my bush beans and don't expect my pole beans to be productive for much longer. We could get a frost any day now, but I am hoping for a least a few more weeks as everything was so late this year. The growing season was short this year and cool. I didn't get my beans in until late to mid June. I only started picking 2 1/2 weeks ago. I love beans and would like to try some more varieties. This year I grew 4 varieties of beans and I have lots in the freezer for the winter. :) Maybe I will try some yard long beans next year.
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2009
  3. wolf

    wolf Active Member

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    JanR,
    I got the seeds from http://agrohaitai.com They have 4 varieties listed. I think I probably have all of them there. According to them, the mosiac variety is lower in yield.

    Yard long beans are very sensitive to cold weather, especially in early stages. In fact my beans were planted into the field in early June but many of the died. The rest was seriously stagnated by the cold weather, and only started growing late in July. The cold July here this summer certain does not help either.

    I had my first harvest 2 weeks ago, the yield was very little. This week it seems getting a little traction, thanks to the warm September this year. I see there are plenty of flower buds on the vine. Hopefully I will get more.

    If frost is coming to your area soon, I feel your climate is probably too cold for that. You might be able to grow if you have some plant protection (like a cold frame) in May. This is another thing I am considering. I think you can build a simple one with a few PVC conduits from Home Depot, and some iron bars, and a piece of greenhouse film.

    For cold weather like yours, I suggest growing some Chinese cabbage. It can be harvested after the initial frost.
     
  4. JanR

    JanR Active Member

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    Thanks for the info.

    I think I will have to try at least one variety and see how they do. I haven't tried Chinese Cabbage, but it is certainly something I would like to try someday.
     

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