Here in Central Virginia (Zone 7+) our semi-frost has finally arrived. Semi-frost is what I call a temperature in the mid/low 30's for only an hour or two and then day time temps in the 60's. My yard-long beans survived the first night in the mid-30's and kept on producing. Today the forecast was mid-low 30's so I pulled all of the plants - it was then I noticed something. All of the plants were loaded with very small flower buds which would have grown into flowers and produced beans. I noticed the roots of these plants were quite thick and looked like white carrots about an inch thick.

My questions are:

1. In areas that do not have frost do yard long beans just keep producing until the plants just die of disease/old age??
2. Has anyone cut back long bean plants and had them regrow and produce a good amount??
3. Has anyone grown a yard long bean plant from a root?

Thanks,
DL

#2. I have not. But I've heard of it and know that it happens.

#3. No. I don't know anyone who has, either. Even if I mulched heavily, the cold rains and seepage of the winter would probably finish them off. They REALLY don't like cold.

Sorry I didn't get to answering this sooner! What variety did you grow?

I've been growing Georgia Long, which has brick red seed and 26" pods, since 1984. Georgia Long, though it may produce some pods, once cool night time temps arrive, will not produce enough seed to consider useful.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Thanks for the input. Last year I grew Red Noodle and Liana. They grew OK but did not produce a huge crop - I did not know much about long beans because it was my first year growing them. I grew a variety called "Orient Wonder" this year. They put out a huge flush of beans first and seemed to go slightly dormant then began to produce again when the days began to get shorter. Not only did they begin to produce beans when the days started to get shorter but the vines began to grow much thicker and the harvest was huge. I had to pick the beans even when the vines were wet because after any rain the pods would get quite large and prolific. The beans are a rich dark green color with deep red at the tip. They grew around 18-22 inches long. I pulled the vines first week of November. The vines were producing right up to the time I pulled them and if I had some way of protecting the 10+ foot tall vines I might have had more beans because the vines were loaded with immature flower buds. This Orient Wonder continued to produce pods after a pre-frost in October. (around 38 degrees for about an hour at night) Funny thing after the temps got cool at night the pods began to coil - they had been straight all summer. I got the seeds from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds. This yard long will be in my garden for 2010.

The Orient Wonder does not seem to be as affected by cool temps as the Red Noodle and Liana were last year. In 2010 I am going to pull some of the roots at season end and try to keep them alive (indoors) over winter in 2 gallon pots -- just to see what happens.

DL

George

My suspicion is that yardlongs would not over-winter well. I agree with George; while some areas may be frost free, most are not cold free, and yardlongs (like most cowpeas) really hate cold. Only one way to find out.

(2) I've never cut back yardlongs, since my season here is so short. I've cut back pole beans, though, when the yield dropped off, or when attacked by disease. The plants responded by sprouting new vines & flowers, and producing a good second yield. It's entirely possible that yardlongs might respond the same way.

If you exercise care when harvesting, and never let any pods enlarge, the yield will be extended a great deal. Be careful not to damage the fragile tips of the flower stalks. They will continue to develop new flowers; these secondary blossoms are probably the buds you noticed.

(3) Never tried to over-winter yardlongs as roots, or heard of anyone who has. However, that doesn't mean it can't be done. I agree with George, it sounds like an interesting experiment. My guess is that it would only work in areas where Winter is short (since the roots are not tuberous) or where the plants could continue growing in a heated greenhouse. I don't think they would survive long dormancy.

I've observed that yardlongs have a very large root system. If dug up, there would be substantial damage; not sure if the plants would survive the trauma. If grown in a large pot & brought indoors (or a heated greenhouse) the chances might improve.

I've been able to keep a tropical bean (sword bean) alive in a solar-heated greenhouse here, with only a supplemental 15-amp electric heater for cold nights. It's been over a month since my killing frost. Don't think it will make it, since the seed takes so long to mature - it bloomed in August, and the pods show no sign of ripening. Eventually it will be too cold for the heater to prevent freezing.

But this experience has given me hope. Yardlong pods mature & form dry seed very quickly, so I might be able to grow daylength-sensitive yardlongs for seed successfully with that extra 30 days. I've got a purple-podded variety from the Philippines that I want to keep alive.