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Post by macmex on Sept 30, 2017 6:02:21 GMT -6
When we lived in a high cool rain forest, in Central Mexico, we found that most warm weather type crops would simply rot when subjected to several weeks of rain. I think they need the sun's ultraviolet rays to kill some of the harmful bacteria which start growing on their leaf surfaces.
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Post by glen on Sept 30, 2017 14:57:44 GMT -6
I plan to experiment with this bean if we can just get some sedes out of this current planting. As I blurted out before, I think this will make a good dry season bean. I need to try and come up with the right soil which would be Sandy. That way I could wáter it a lot without killing it. Right now, we aren't getting much rain. It looks like rain all the time. If it does rain its not for long now. Vines are doing fine. The problema is that it will start raining fairly soon as the Oct-Nov time period is our rainiest 2 months of the year. Sometime in Dec, usually early, it will rain for the last time for about 6 months, or sometime in May, the rainy season will start again. Its not complicated here. There are only 2 seasons. I still have some seed left in a Little bag. I plan to return it to the freezer soon. If this current trial bombs I have enough to do a December planting. A dry season planting. I am very determined. I am going to give this variety my hardest college try so we can rescue it from extinction. Somehow I doubt its close to extinction though. Its too nice a bean for people in the oahacan province of Mexico not to be growing it. Of course, with the earth quakes and stuff going on down there I doubt they are doing too much pole bean gardening right now.
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Post by glen on Sept 30, 2017 16:04:31 GMT -6
When we get a lot of rain here, many of the plants get mildew on the underside of the leaves. Its so damp here sometimes. My okra gets it real bad. Even the indigenous variety's have this mildew. They have to be able to survive with it. The pests and the fungus and mildew here is a real problema for plants that originate from dry climates or low humidity type climates. I asume that there are area's in Mexico that are very low humidity type area's. Remember the John Wayne movies with the cactus and the deserts? Thats what I think of when I think of Mexico. But, Mexico is a big place. They must have many different climates there. Panama is a very small country. I live in the driest province of Panama. I had forgotten how rainy it can be here since we had been in an extended drought for about 3 years. We had much less rain than normal. Now we seem to have pulled out of the drought and we are getting what seems like copious amounts of rain. Its not. We get much less rain than other provinces. I don't complain about the lack of rain really. Rain brings mosquito's and blood borne illnesses. I can do without that.
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Post by glen on Sept 30, 2017 16:12:01 GMT -6
Soon, December will come and it will be super hot and dry. The NE winds will come shortly after that. Mercifully. Because the temps will be in the 90's everyday with clear sky's and not a drop of rain will come for about 6 months. This weather is what keeps foriegners from staying here long. Its almost intolerable here during those 6 months out of the year. The worst part is at night. Trying to sleep. Temps can be in the 90's for the first half of the night here. Most people don't use air-conditioning. Or,even fans. A night trying to sleep here without a fan will cure the most die-hard Expat and send him packing fairly quickly. Paradise they say? They are lying. Or, they are a Real estate agent. Or, both.
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Post by glen on Oct 2, 2017 12:20:31 GMT -6
I checked the vines this morning. They are looking good. Vines are getting more stout and growing faster now. I am also seeing more blooms. Only a couple. The last blooms did not set. I will let you know of course if we see some pods forming. No pest damage yet. We are getting rain now every day. I dare not wáter them cause I fear the dreaded root rot. Things can change fast but for now, the vines look good though. I never thought vines could be a pain in the keister to grow. These vines are proving to be delicate and particular in this climate. The problema for me is its real easy to love them to death. I have a tendency to want to do something for them. The vines don't want my help right now. They want to be left alone.
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Post by glen on Oct 3, 2017 21:22:50 GMT -6
I was out there weeding around the pots today and around the fence where the vines are climbing. I have this urge to fertilize these vines but they are growing nicely. One vine is taller than I am now. There are 4 or 5 blue flowers showing. No clumps of blooms but some blooms. I may pour some miracle grow in the pots using a weak formula in a few days. We have had a lot of rain which is probably leaching away the nutrients. I did use miracle grow a little over a week ago. I also used some liquid calcium that I mixed with water also. That usually causes a little leaf damage which it did on a couple of the newest vines. I am using miracle grow at half strength. Beans need nitrogen but I have to be careful with it. Too much will cause problems. I have been seeing blooms for awhile now, but am not seeing the beginnings of any pods yet. The blooms are a good sign though. I do not have enough experience with pole beans to know what I am looking at actually. I am in new territory.
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Post by macmex on Oct 6, 2017 6:39:34 GMT -6
If you fertilize, leave at least one plant out of it and see what happens. Make a comparison. I have never fertilized beans or peas, as they fix nitrogen themselves. Yet your conditions are different.
George
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Post by glen on Oct 6, 2017 20:00:01 GMT -6
We have been receiving lots of rain. You know, the all day kinds of rain. I did apply a very small amount of miracle grow to every pot before reading your suggestion George. Then it rained for the rest of the day. I am sure most of the miracle grow leached out of the pots. This was I think the day before yesterday. I have been pretty conservative about how much fertilizer I use because I fear that I will kill or damage the vines. I won't add any more for a good while. And, if I do I won't add it to all vines. As long as the vines continue to grow I assume they are OK. There is one vine that is blooming. This vine has bloom buds at every leaf node higher up on the vine. Some of the little stems have 4 to 6 buds. They open, turn brown and fall with no resulting pod. They aren't yet setting pods. This could be normal. I just don't at this point know enough about this plants cycle. Things can change and usually do. As far as the nitrogen goes. My soil is extremely poor. A certain amount of nitrogen needs to be added to the soil so the plant can grow correctly. I just don't know how much to add. With my Long beans I always added nitrogen and it did indeed help them grow. Not adding the nitrogen at all is a mistake based on my experience with the Long bean variety. I will eventually get the hang of it.
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Post by macmex on Oct 7, 2017 7:52:42 GMT -6
Also, I noticed that you used past tense when referring to long beans. Don't be afraid to grow both beans. They are different species and will not cross at all. So, you can grow both and keep seed with no danger of crossing.
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Post by glen on Oct 7, 2017 20:41:32 GMT -6
Ok, I will take your word on that. Right now I am focusing on bittermelon and also the creme pole beans. I will plant more of the long beans later though. The long beans are space stealers. Super aggressive. If I planted those anywhere near the Mexican beans they would just take over the place. I have the bittermelon on one side of the yard and these Mexican beans on the other. The bittermelon is real aggressive also. I am pampering these pole beans by giving them plenty of room and not allowing other plants near them for fear I will introduce virus and other pests. Creme pole bean is not an aggressive grower. It just plods along delicately. Long beans will grow 6 inches or more in a day with thick vines when they get going. Same with the bittermelon.
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Post by glen on Oct 8, 2017 11:02:13 GMT -6
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Post by glen on Oct 9, 2017 16:26:54 GMT -6
The vines will not grow as thick or be nearly as big as Georges super-bean. But, I did notice more tiny beans forming on the vines. This is good news since at a minimum I want to save seed. It appears that I will get a seed crop at the very least. The plan tomorrow is to recycle more pots and plant more seed. I have two more large pots I can use to grow more of this bean. I will plant 3 seeds in each pot. I also have to do a little work on the trellis since its not tall enough. I have some plastic trellis material I can add to the fence poles to give them a little more space. The vines will also be in the shade of the Christmas palms but I don't think that will bother them much. The beans might even decide to grow on the palms. These vines are now beginning to grow faster but they are not thick. The vines can grow 4 to 5 inches in one day when they get going but they grow about 8 inches before producing another leaf node. They are gangly looking vines, not thick and aggressive looking like Georges super pole bean. I can't compete against that. But, the good news is that the vines are going to produce seed. Each leaf node on the producing plant has a cluster of 5 or 6 buds every 8 inches or so now, especially on the higher portions of the plant. I don't know how many seeds I will get from one pod. Maybe 5 or 6?
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Post by glen on Oct 11, 2017 14:40:24 GMT -6
It's 2 days later. There is now only one bean forming. And, it is forming slowly. The others must have fallen on the ground. There is still many blooms on one plant but only one bean. I go out every day to check on em and to see the progress of the baby beans. Of which there is only one now. I believe that production of pods will only improve but I must reserve my opinión. There is only one plant blooming so far by the way. There is another vine that should start blooming soon as well.
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Post by glen on Oct 13, 2017 9:45:33 GMT -6
Yesterday I noticed on my daily inspection that the blooming vine got attacked by something that snipped off branches and leaves. A vine had a section snipped. The pot was full of leaves. Leaves laying on the ground. No part of the plant appears to have been eaten. Just vandalism. I do not know what animal would have done this. A different pot was attacked but not as badly. I sprayed all the plants at the bases especially with pesticide just because I did not know what else to do. There are no new pods forming. Just the one. This morning I went out and did not see any new damage. It appears that a different vine will Bloom fairly soon. So far, I am not happy with what is going on with these vines. I have to wait and see if things change. I have no idea what type of animal would have come in and just caused this damage and not even eaten any of the foliage. We have cutter ants here but this was not cutter ants.
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Post by macmex on Oct 13, 2017 10:39:11 GMT -6
Here in Oklahoma we have a type of cutworm which actually climbs the plants and cuts stems, etc. I bet you have something like that. Try scratching around in the soil, around the base of the plant, to about 1/2" in depth. A lot of times one can dig up the caterpillar responsible. Where we used to live in Mexico these were called "gallinas ciegas" (Blind hens). I have no idea why they called them that.
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