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Post by raymondo on Mar 23, 2010 20:12:41 GMT -5
I've just harvested a small dry bean crop, a bush Borlotti type, which I grew to test yield per weight of sown seeds. It was in preparation for growing a small amount for market. I don't think it's going to be worth growing as I got something like a ten fold increase - 1 seed sown yielded just a tad over 10 seeds. That's pretty damn poor really. It may have been the variety of course, so I'm on the look out for yield data for various varieties. Has anyone come across this sort of information anywhere? My preference would be weight-weight numbers like lbs yield per lbs of seed sown.
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Post by DarJones on Mar 24, 2010 1:15:39 GMT -5
It is easier to post projected seed increase. Most beans increase between 100 and 300 fold. I commonly plant 1 ounce of bean seed and harvest 2 or 3 gallons of seed. A gallon of beans weighs about 9 pounds so from one ounce to 300 ounces or more is what I expect.
DarJones
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Post by robertb on Mar 24, 2010 4:31:37 GMT -5
I think you'd need different standards for different crops. The expected returns from bush and pole beans, for instance, would be very different.
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Post by raymondo on Mar 24, 2010 5:29:45 GMT -5
Wow, 100 to 300! It's hard to imagine even a 100 fold increase, at least for the variety I chose, given my meagre test run result of a mere 10 fold increase. Perhaps I should look for a pole type. Or perhaps it was because of old seed. I scrabbled around to get enough seeds for the trial and some were definitely quite old.
I grow beans for dry use every year, but I've never taken any notice of yield because I was just doing it to provide some beans over winter. This has been a learning experience.
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Post by grunt on Mar 24, 2010 5:35:18 GMT -5
Raymondo: Check out our seed list. I show the returns ratio for most of the beans we grew this year Seed list is at tinyurl.com/ygnh8v9 . If there's anything you would like, send me a PM |
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Post by DarJones on Mar 24, 2010 8:28:04 GMT -5
You also have to factor in climate, culture, disease, insects, etc. I haven't grown bush beans in quite a few years so won't say much about their yield other than that it was about 100 to 1. That does not say much about them except that in my deep southeastern U.S. climate, I got a decent return from Jacob's Cattle, Calypso, and Hutterite.
There are numerous beans that are not adapted to my climate. I struggle to get a crop of any variety of Runner Bean. There are several varieties of P. Vulgaris that I have tried over the years that don't work here. Last year I grew a row of Uncle Walt's Vermont Cranberry and got absolute zero production. They grow fine in the Northeastern U.S.
DarJones
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Mar 24, 2010 22:22:32 GMT -5
I have noticed that if I plant things further apart that I get a
much higher yield on a per seed basis...
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Post by raymondo on Mar 24, 2010 22:25:23 GMT -5
Thanks Dan. That's an informative list. My yield was still very low by comparison.
Yes DarJones. You're quite right about the other contributing factors. The bed I grew them in was the worst one available from a soil point of view being very sticky clay and barely dug over. Plenty of sun, so that's something at least.
And Joseph, yes, the trial plot was very closely planted so that no doubt had an impact.
All in all, I think a pole type will be the way to go so I'll seek one out that provides the style of bean that locals will buy. People tend to be cautious. From local supermarkets they know borlotti, cannellini and red kidney beans in tin cans so these are the ones they will buy. I couldn't, for instance, grow calypso and expect any to sell.
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