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iam3killerbs

Disappointed in Trionfo Violetto

iam3killerbs
14 years ago

I am very disappointed in Trionfo Violetto.

Perhaps it performs well in cooler climates but it seems to have suffered dreadfully in the heat. Some vines died, others lacked vigor, and the yield is very poor. :-(

Comments (27)

  • fusion_power
    14 years ago

    if you planted in the heat of summer, then no bean would have held up. But you are correct that Trionfo does not have much heat tolerance. It will produce a very good crop if planted as a normal early spring pole bean.

    DarJones

  • iam3killerbs
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I planted it in the spring.

    It never thrived and did not produce before the heat came.

  • zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
    14 years ago

    I too was disappointed with it. The vines were not very robust. The pods were long & of good quality, but the yield was far below what I have come to expect from a snap bean. Like a few other beans (such as "Fortex") it might benefit from being more closely spaced, to overcome the low yield per plant... I hope to test that next year, and to trial "Kew Blue" for comparison.

  • catherinet
    14 years ago

    I grew it a couple years ago and was disappointed in it also. It didn't produce much.

  • iam3killerbs
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I once had Rattlesnake do poorly in New England. I'm going to try it next year since I hear on these forums that its a southern bean.

    Anyone know a really good, purple pole bean for the southeast?

  • jjcondon_stcloudstate_edu
    13 years ago

    I grew it last year for the first time. I agree that it slowed down in the heat of summer, but before AND ESPECIALLY AFTER it produced like crazy here in MN. I think if you keep them well watered in the heat, you may get through it and enjoy renewed harvest in the cooler weather again. But maybe the heat of the south is too much.

    I would have liked to have been warned about the height, though. It reached the top of my 6 1/2 trellis, then reached up and grabbed a maple tree and kept going! How silly I must have looked harvesting beans in a tree from a ladder. I will use a taller trellis next year. These beans cooked faster than green ones such as Kentucky Blue. The flavor was good, and my family liked them just as well. I also froze them, and it worked well. You must harvest daily, as the right size is about pencil width.
    The vines also grew differently than Kentucky Blue. While KB climbed, leafed, and flowered as it went up, TV climbed first, then leafed, then flowered later, so don't be put off by that difference. I will grow them again next year.

  • fusion_power
    13 years ago

    To answer the question of a good general purpose purple pole bean that does especially well here in the SouthEast, Sandhill will have Grandma Roberts Purple Pole listed for 2011. This bean is highly productive and has been consistent in a wide range of environments. It has been a good performer in the Pacific NorthWest as well as the hot humid SouthEast. This bean is similar to but not the same as the purple pole bean that Henry Fields sold years ago. It is distinctively different from Trionfo Violetto and other purple pod beans that I have grown.

    DarJones

  • italseeds
    11 years ago

    Hello - Paolo here from Seeds of Italy in London. This has been the wettest summer for us since 1870 but i still managed to get some Trionfo Violetto though yealds were obviously down as a result and all beans suffered this year here but some varieties faired even worse. This bean is Italian but bear in mind that Italy is both a hot and an alpine country and as long as you keep them watered, they should be ok but every year is different. I hope you have a better season next year with Trionfo which is one of our best sellers here in the UK.

  • hementia8
    11 years ago

    TV did fairly well for me although most others out performed it
    My best purple pod producer this year was Purple Podded Stringless with LA Purple Pod comming in second

  • hementia8
    11 years ago

    Sorry for the duplicate post
    I finnaly found out what I was doing wrong
    I was getting an error glitch and did a back button and submitted again .
    The purple bean that did so well for me was VIOLET PODDED STRINGLESS rather than what I stated in the previous post

  • hementia8
    10 years ago

    This year the most productive purple was Grandma Roberts
    Thanks Dar for the great advise
    Charlie

  • fusion_power
    10 years ago

    Glad it worked well for you Charlie. The only issue I've had with Grandma's beans is that they can develop an odd flavor in heat and drought. Otherwise, they are an excellent purple bean.

    If you are interested, I will be sending another of Grandma's beans to Sandhill this year. This is a tricolor with black, brown, and white beans. You can pick out and plant only one color and will get back all three colors. It is very heat tolerant and an excellent snap bean. The beans should be picked young for snaps, they develop slight strings as they reach maturity.

    I also have about a gallon of F3 seed from crossing Fortex with a purple bean. I grew the F2 seed this year and had a wide range of bean shapes, sizes, and colors. This would be a really good chance if someone wants to develop their own variety of bean that is adapted to their local climate. These beans have genetics to tolerate heat, cool springs, damp soil, and drought. It will take some selection work to get something worth while, but should be very rewarding for anyone interested in growing and naming one on their own. There were wide flat beans up to 11 inches long, round beans similar to Fortex, but purple color, and a very wide range of flavors. I'm going to ask Glenn if he would list them next year and if not, I will offer them here. I consider this to be breeding and selection stock which is kind of different from Glenn's stated objective of being a preservationist. In other words, he may not be interested in carrying them.

    If you get a chance, get some Blue Marbut seed. It is another local bean from here in North Alabama. It is a good canner, moderately heat tolerant, and has some nematode tolerance. These traits make it a very good bean in the Southeast and Midwest.

    DarJones

  • zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
    10 years ago

    "Grandma Roberts" did well for me too. It was one of only five beans I grew for seed this year. I only planted enough to do a seed increase, but sampled a few, and am very impressed by its pod quality & flavor. Barring the unforeseen, I will grow it again next year, both for further seed increase, and as my main pole snap.

    Dar, I just now got back from Berea - I finally was able to make the annual gathering, after years of trying. Wish I could have met you there, I seem to recall that you attended in recent years... one of the years when my vacation was cancelled, no doubt.

  • hementia8
    10 years ago

    My top producers this year were Grandma Roberts,Meeks Running,Blue Marbut[thanks Dar for introducing] Alabama #1,Rattle Snake and Turkey Craw
    I am very interested in working with flat purples and black seeded flat beans
    The white seeded flats do not like it here
    Charlie

  • fusion_power
    10 years ago

    My Grandma Roberts maiden name was Meeks so seeing her name paired with Meeks above was surprising. Charlie, I will save out a pack of the Fortex cross beans if you want them. I will even include a few selected seed that were very close to the ideal standard I am trying to breed from them.

    Zeedman, I went in 2010, but had too much work to do to go this year.

    DarJones

  • hementia8
    10 years ago

    Dar I would very much like to grow your crosses
    I have plenty of the Meek's Running to trade plus any other in my trade list
    Perhaps the Meek's also originated from your ancestors
    I had a great year for seed production despite the heat however the freezer is still half empty
    If anyone else has anything different I would also like to grow out.
    I have had great sucess with Richard's Neon Goose and Gary's Flamingo also.
    Charlie

  • tormato
    10 years ago

    Dar,

    I'm interested in all of the F3 Fortex crosses, whether it's from Sand Hill or you. Saved seed from each line would be returned to you, if you'd like.

    Charlie,

    I'm glad to hear Flamingo did good for you. Like last year, I again had one off type out of about 100 plants this year. So, I would not yet like to see it listed at SSE.

    As for anything different , more than 50% of the beans that I plant are "different", my selecting from natural crosses/variants. Perhaps I'll email you with what I have, once everything is dried for this year, and past years beans get (better) organized.

    Gary

  • hementia8
    10 years ago

    So far this year I have found 15 that appears to b e crosses or mutants
    I found a flat pod black seeds in EARLY RISER
    In HICKMAN a flat black and also brown seeds
    in LA.PURPLE POD a flat,brown seeds streaked dark brown
    in DADE brown seeds
    in AUNT JEANS tan seeds
    in DADE purple pod,white seeds
    plus 9 others
    Charlie

    This post was edited by hementia8 on Sun, Oct 20, 13 at 15:05

  • fusion_power
    10 years ago

    Charlie, if your Hickman happens to be Hickman Snap, then you are fighting a losing battle. The variety carries the tricolor gene that causes beans to continually produce black, brown, and white seed. It is a genetic trait.

  • hementia8
    10 years ago

    I have been growing HICKMAN for at least 20 years and believe I have bred the white out
    It has always had multicolored brown and black seeds.
    This is the first year I found a flat pod
    It is flat podded black seed and purple podded flats that I am working on
    Charlie

  • cindy_ga
    10 years ago

    I'll add my disappointment with TV - I grew it last year and while it was prolific when the temps were reasonable, the quality of the bean wasn't very good. As soon as temps climbed into the 90s, the TVs were just not tasty at all. The beans were almost woody in texture and the flavor was not good. They were pretty, had nice vines and were a novelty, but our best bean is consistently Rattlesnake. This year I put the TVs in the trellis I have at the entrance to the garden along with the Hyacinth beans - all grown for beauty and not food. (Tho somehow a Christmas Lima took up residence in the trellis and is producing lots of pods amongst the purple flowers and beans.)

  • jim42
    10 years ago

    I would like to trade for some Fortex bean seed. I saw a picture on this forum where they grow to 11" long. I have been growing pole Limas for many years now and this past summer was the best I have ever had. I bought them as Dr. Martin seed, but that was several years ago and I have continued to keep enough seed for the next year. I'm not sure that I could call them Dr. Martins now, due to legal rights. I wouldn't want to infringe on any rights. All I can say is, I have some good looking pole Lima bean seed and would be willing to trade for some seed Fortex, they look like what we call "string beans" here in Delaware. I would like enough seed for a 50' row, and directions on how far apart to plant them. As for the pole Limas, I planted mine 5' apart last spring and I plan on going to 6' apart in 2014. There was a little too much vine at 5' spacings. I have some pictures on another computer and would be willing to share them if anyone is interested in such a trade. This is my first post on the forum, so if it is legal for you to contact me directly by email, please send a message to, dunnjl201@aol.com.

  • zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
    10 years ago

    "I'm not sure that I could call them Dr. Martins now, due to legal rights."

    "Dr. Martin's" is not in a protected status, so you can share them freely.

    You can check for patented & protected plants in the link below.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Variety Protected Crops

  • hementia8
    10 years ago

    Thanks Z for the info on the PVP site
    It never crossed my mind that there were so many beans listed
    I did not find any of the limas I have grown listed
    I did find a dozen green beans listed that I have grown, that have long expired
    It surprised me that NICKEL and FESTIVA are protected
    Charlie

  • zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
    10 years ago

    That is a good reference site. Aside from telling you whether a variety is protected or not (and if so, when its PVP status expires) there is a wealth of information on any variety listed.

    The certificates (there are links to photo-copies) include the originator & the lines used to breed the variety, as well as detailed descriptions of the variety. The narratives vary, but the more detailed ones provide great insight into the breeding process.

  • pickman
    9 years ago

    I too planted the Trionfo in April, and today they are not looking very well, and some have died. Someone asked if there was a purple hull snap pole bean that can take the southeast heat. Yes there is and I have been planting and harvested those for years. I got the seed from my father-in-law who got them from a man who brought them from Pennsylvania. Supposedly they are an heirloom from the Amish. I plant them in the spring, and I harvest usually until frost, so they are very hardy. The only issue is I have never seen them in any seed catalog. If I did not save seed I would not have any today. The only reason I was trying the Trionfo was to compare with what I have. To make sure I would have beans this year I planted some of my beans as well, and they are looking beautiful.

  • fusion_power
    9 years ago

    Pickman, a wide dispersion of purple pod beans made their way into U.S. commerce in the early 1900's. These have crossed and been re-selected many times over the years resulting in a wide range of varieties. The common traits are excellent cool soil germination, good quality mostly rounded pods, about 6 to 7 inches long, and usually decent heat tolerance. If you want to do a fair comparison with your bean, get Louisiana Purple Pod and Grandma Roberts Purple Pole and grow them side by side with yours. Comparing to Trionfo would in my opinion be a waste of time.