Beans

Today we are going to talk about a legume species that is well known and cultivated throughout the world. It is about the beans or beans. The scientific name is Phaseolus and it has other common names like beans, beans, and beans. It belongs to the legume family and comes from America. It is quite widespread throughout the world and is not only grown in agriculture, but also in many urban gardens and even gardens around the world.

In this article we are going to teach you all the characteristics of beans, as well as cultivation and harvesting. If you want to know more about it, this is your post.

Table of Contents

Key features

Phaseolus vulgaris plantation

The Jewish has a great capacity to develop and is capable of being perfectly preserved both by freezing and sterilization. There are different varieties that can be observed in the markets. We can find some characteristics such as pods that vary in shape and color, some that have parchment during the development of said pods, etc.

The most frequent that we usually see in the markets are those dwarf varieties. These are plants of about 30 to 40 cm in length and that produce green pods with mottled purple or yellow spots. Unlike other types of legumes, they must be collected when they are quite young. The most useful indicator to know when to collect is when we can easily break the sheath without producing threads or scrolls.

This dwarf variety is easy to adapt to different environments. They are capable of producing green pods or dry beans which we call beans. It has an annual production period and its growth is quite fast. It has a light and shallow root system. It has the main root with a number of secondary roots where numerous branches are spreading.

Its stem is herbaceous and the varieties best known and consumed throughout the world have the most upright bearing. The enrame beans, unlike the dwarfs that have a length of 40 cm, they are capable of reaching up to 3 meters in height. They are usually wound around a guardian as they grow and in a counterclockwise direction. The tutor is quite necessary if we want their growth to be correct. This with the dwarf varieties is somewhat more optional given the short length, but in the enrame varieties, they are necessary to guide the growth correctly.

Flowering and fruit

Phaseolus vulgaris leaves

The leaves that it has are of the compound type and the size varies depending on the species that we are treating. The buds from which the flowers come out are in the axils of the leaves and form triads. During the flowering season, we can see white flowers that they are arranged in clusters containing between 4 and 8 flowers. The peduncles that support these flowers come out of the buds mentioned above.

The fruit that we call bean or bean can be of different colors, shapes and dimensions depending on the species. Inside we can find between 4 and 6 seeds. The fruits vary in their color between green, red and green or yellow marbled with brown. Those that are most often demanded by consumers are those pods that have a green and yellow color and have a cylindrical shape.

Requirements of Phaseoulus vulgaris

Phaseolus

In order to plant the bean and for it to develop in good condition, certain recommendations and requirements must be met. The first thing is the climate where we are. This plant it is not able to withstand frosts that are below 10 degrees. Although at these temperatures we do not even consider frosts, this plant will not grow if it is at lower temperatures.

If we want to plant beans, it is best to wait for the summer time. In spring we can sow it if and only if the soil is warm enough to exceed those mentioned temperatures. The location has to be in full sunlight.

It is not recommended that the soil be calcareous. since they will produce beans whose rind is too hard and it becomes more difficult to cook. Like the rest of the legume species, they have bacteria capable of fixing nitrogen in their roots. This helps that nitrogen fertilizers are not used, since it is not necessary to further enrich the soil.

To make sure our plant grows well, we must sow in places that are more sheltered from the wind, cold and shade.

Growing and harvesting the beans

Bean cultivation

The beans should be sown in lines about 50 cm apart. If we are growing a variety of enrame beans, we will have to take into account a separation greater than about 75 cm. Once we have planted it, we only have to cover them with two centimeters of soil on top.

As we have mentioned in the requirements, it is important that the soil where we sow it does not have a temperature lower than 10 degrees or it will not be able to develop. This is the only fact to take into account when planting, since it is quite easy to care for them. Normally the sowings are done at the end of June to ensure that the soil has the ideal temperature and there are no frosts. Depending on the climate where we are, we can sow it from the middle of April.

In order to be able to grow the beans for a longer period of time, you have to leave a period of 2-3 weeks to sow the next one. In this way we can guarantee the collection of Phaseolus at all times.

It is advisable to place a guardian for those species that are more than 2 meters high to guide them during their growth. Let’s not forget that otherwise, they will be growing crooked and, eventually, the fruit will deteriorate.

The harvest will have to be collected between two and three times a week given its rapid growth. What’s more, We will alternate those species sown between periods of 2 to 3 weeks to optimize their collection.. Some of the species, due to their color, are more visible than others among the entire harvest. In this way, the harvest of certain species is facilitated compared to others.

Remember not to leave them for a long time once they have matured or you will have very hard beans in the next harvest.

I hope these tips help you learn more about beans.

Beans

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