All the advice is to pick the pods asap so as to encourage further pod development. How is this so given that the pods develop from their flower, so therefore more flowers would have to develop in order for more pods.

Does early cropping encourage further flower growth, or does the plant flower only once?

In article ,
anthony123hopki wrote:

All the advice is to pick the pods asap so as to encourage further pod
development. How is this so given that the pods develop from their
flower, so therefore more flowers would have to develop in order for
more pods.

Does early cropping encourage further flower growth, or does the plant
flower only once?

Harvesting the green beans (French beans) while they are still green
encourages the plant to set more flowers. Let the beans mature to brown
and dry, and the plant will cease producing.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/2/maude
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/2...al_crime_scene

anthony123hopki wrote:
All the advice is to pick the pods asap so as to encourage further pod
development. How is this so given that the pods develop from their
flower, so therefore more flowers would have to develop in order for
more pods.

This is what happens in fact. In addition the beans are nicer when young so
pick them regularly and if you can't eat them all while fresh then give the
rest away, you will get more good beans yourself.


Does early cropping encourage further flower growth, or does the plant
flower only once?

Different cultivars have different flowering patterns. The ones favoured by
commercial growers flower over a short period and most of the beans are
ready together. This is advantageous as such growers like to harvest all at
once, often using machinery.

Home growers are better off with a cultivar that flowers continuously over a
long period so there is a steady harvest of beans. It is a while since I
grew them but I think blue lake are in the latter category. The cultivar
that I grew last summer produced continuously for seven months.


David

Balvenieman wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

This is what happens in fact. In addition the beans are nicer when
young so pick them regularly and if you can't eat them all while
fresh then give the rest away, you will get more good beans yourself.


Does early cropping encourage further flower growth, or does the
plant flower only once?

Different cultivars have different flowering patterns. The ones
favoured by commercial growers flower over a short period and most
of the beans are ready together. This is advantageous as such
growers like to harvest all at once, often using machinery.

Which is, in fact, the case for the "Blue Lake" round green beans.
I suppose they could be called "French" beans because they're round
green "zydeco" or snap-beans but I sure don't think of them as being
in the same league as "real" French fillet beans; "Delinel", say.
Blue Lake beans were developed for machine-processing by West
Coast (U.S.A.) food packers. They blossom and bear within a narrow
time frame in order to provide uniform, if mediocre, beans for the
canning industry. Blue Lake beans develop a thick, fleshy pod quickly
but it gets tough as the beans mature. Blue Lake beans endure close
spacing and high temperatures (back in the day, we picked'em for Del
Monte in South Florida in late fall, nearly winter) and are tough
enough for machine picking (going to be steam pressure canned,
remember). Unfortunately, Blue Lake beans are among those primitive
hairy beans with mediocre, generic "green" flavor; pods get tough
long before they mature, and they have far too short a harvest for
home gardens.

It's more than 20 years since I grew blue lakes so I had to look it up. It
is odd because now there seems to be climbing and bush varieties, some
photos look quite round and others flatish. Many suppliers and comentators
say they bear over a period of time. This mob:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...6/ai_18285074/

say the original 'blue lake' has been bred quite a bit more since it was
first seen.

It seems that there is more than one bean going around called by that name
so it may depend on which one Anthony has whether it flowers all at once or
over a period of time.

David

David

Thanks for that. What cultivar was that one you mentioned that produced over the seven month period. I would be very interested to know.

Anthony

In article ,
anthony123hopki wrote:

'David Hare-Scott[_2_ Wrote:
;894417']anthony123hopki wrote:-
All the advice is to pick the pods asap so as to encourage further pod
development. How is this so given that the pods develop from their
flower, so therefore more flowers would have to develop in order for
more pods.-

This is what happens in fact. In addition the beans are nicer when
young so
pick them regularly and if you can't eat them all while fresh then give
the
rest away, you will get more good beans yourself.
-

Does early cropping encourage further flower growth, or does the plant
flower only once?-

Different cultivars have different flowering patterns. The ones
favoured by
commercial growers flower over a short period and most of the beans are

ready together. This is advantageous as such growers like to harvest
all at
once, often using machinery.

Home growers are better off with a cultivar that flowers continuously
over a
long period so there is a steady harvest of beans. It is a while since
I
grew them but I think blue lake are in the latter category. The
cultivar
that I grew last summer produced continuously for seven months.


David


David

Thanks for that. What cultivar was that one you mentioned that produced
over the seven month period. I would be very interested to know.

Anthony

I've been having good luck with Maxibel, and Fin de Bagnols (French,
green, string beans) producing through the season. The last 2 years they
have produced for me from June to the beginning of November. I use the
bush variety of these, but I believe they come as pole beans as well.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/2/maude
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/2...al_crime_scene

anthony123hopki wrote:

Home growers are better off with a cultivar that flowers continuously
over a
long period so there is a steady harvest of beans. It is a while
since I
grew them but I think blue lake are in the latter category. The
cultivar
that I grew last summer produced continuously for seven months.


David


David

Thanks for that. What cultivar was that one you mentioned that
produced over the seven month period. I would be very interested to
know.

Anthony

It isn't a named variety (at least the vendor doesn't admit it is one). It
is sold by "Mrs Fothergills" and described as bush beans. I don't know if
they are international. You are not going to get seven months of production
unless your growing season between frosts is about nine months, you feed
them, and water and pick them regularly and keep them from baking in mid
summer..

David

Balvenieman wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

It is sold by "Mrs Fothergills" and described as bush beans.
Is she the other half of "Mr Fothergills"?
http://mrfothergills-seeds-bulbs.com.au/index.php

Oops. They are the same. Well my grandma had a moustache and that's my
story and I am sticking to it.

I had to get the packet. They are not 'bush beans' but 'dwarf beans -
tendergreen'.

David