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Post by circumspice on May 22, 2012 20:59:13 GMT -5
After hearing the encouraging news that dry beans from the grocery store can be a valuable way to get new germ plasm, I looked to my pantry... I have mung beans, adzuki beans and I have... Small Red Beans. I bought all of these from Chinese groceries in various towns in my travels, but they were all imported from China. So, what is a small red bean? Is it like a yard long bean? I have no idea as to its culture. I know that I can just throw a few in some potting soil & see what comes up, but I'd rather have some idea of what I'm doing before hand... I tried to include a pic of the beans, but I keep getting the angry bear...  I remember buying them because they are so tiny, almost like rice beans. They are a dark maroon, almost black, with a white eye. None of them are longer than a cm long, many are half that size. |
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Post by blueadzuki on May 22, 2012 21:35:01 GMT -5
Actually, those probably ARE rice beans at least that is the common name. The scientific name is Phaseolus Calicartus or Vigna umbellata . Though they could also be a very small red cowpea; I've seen those too.
Now for the bad news, if they ARE rice beans, there is a very good chance that your ability to grow them will run into a problem. Most of the rice beans strains sold commecially in China are day length sensitive, and need a season longer than is found in the US (there is a strain that will grow here, but I'm still working on figuring out which one it is) They'll grow wonderfully (in fact they can grow a little too vigrourously, they can easily choke everything else) If you do mamage to do a picture, please try and include the bag; if I can recognize the logo, I can probably at least tell you if yours ISN'T the fertile one.
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Post by circumspice on May 22, 2012 22:14:17 GMT -5
Actually, those probably ARE rice beans at least that is the common name. The scientific name is Phaseolus Calicartus or Vigna umbellata . Though they could also be a very small red cowpea; I've seen those too. Now for the bad news, if they ARE rice beans, there is a very good chance that your ability to grow them will run into a problem. Most of the rice beans strains sold commecially in China are day length sensitive, and need a season longer than is found in the US (there is a strain that will grow here, but I'm still working on figuring out which one it is) They'll grow wonderfully (in fact they can grow a little too vigrourously, they can easily choke everything else) If you do mamage to do a picture, please try and include the bag; if I can recognize the logo, I can probably at least tell you if yours ISN'T the fertile one. You mean that a minimum 150 day growing season isn't long enough?!  (I've had tomatoes in the garden from Feb 7th till the end of Oct... that's 240+ days) Being as far south as I am, I guess my day length is somewhat short? I always get the day length mixed up between north & south. I don't know why I keep getting the angry bear... I tried probably 8 times to attach the pic.  It might be because of my ISP, I don't know for sure. |
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Post by Drahkk on May 22, 2012 23:19:38 GMT -5
Description sounds like Haricot Rouge. Do they look like these? rareseeds.com/vegetablesa-c/cowpeas/haricot-rouge-du-burkina-faso-cowpea.htmlEdit: just found a rice bean pic on Wikipedia, and they are pretty similar. If yours are enlongated and ovoid like miniature medicine tablets or fat grains of rice, with long eyes, they are probably rice beans. If they're closer to a typical bean shape, they may be the Haricot Rouge. BTW, check the file size on your pic. The forum doesn't allow attachments over 1024 KB. (1 MB) That may be why the bear likes you so much. MB |
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Post by blueadzuki on May 23, 2012 6:36:58 GMT -5
Actually, those probably ARE rice beans at least that is the common name. The scientific name is Phaseolus Calicartus or Vigna umbellata . Though they could also be a very small red cowpea; I've seen those too. Now for the bad news, if they ARE rice beans, there is a very good chance that your ability to grow them will run into a problem. Most of the rice beans strains sold commecially in China are day length sensitive, and need a season longer than is found in the US (there is a strain that will grow here, but I'm still working on figuring out which one it is) They'll grow wonderfully (in fact they can grow a little too vigrourously, they can easily choke everything else) If you do mamage to do a picture, please try and include the bag; if I can recognize the logo, I can probably at least tell you if yours ISN'T the fertile one. You mean that a minimum 150 day growing season isn't long enough?! (I've had tomatoes in the garden from Feb 7th till the end of Oct... that's 240+ days) Being as far south as I am, I guess my day length is somewhat short? I always get the day length mixed up between north & south. I don't know why I keep getting the angry bear... I tried probably 8 times to attach the pic. It might be because of my ISP, I don't know for sure. Well, south as you are, they might work for you. Most types don't work for me, but then I live in the Hudson Valley. There is a sort of "tell" for which you have got (though it doesn't work until the plants are fairly well established). The "normal" type rice bean is a pole type climber so it starts turning into a vine pretty early. The flowering one is bush to semi bush (it was the first the first year, the second the second year) so around the 9"-1' size keep an eye on whether they begin to scramble or stay upright. All seed colors come true as far as I have been able to tell (you said the seed was maroon, but given what I have seen of rice bean bags, if you go trough the whole bag, you will almost certainly find a few seeds that are tan, or cream, or mottled (over red or tan or cream) or black or blue or pinto. You want to check anyway if you are planning to plant more, I've also never seen a bag that did not have a bindweed seed or two.) Assuming you do get flowers, the pods are similar to green beans, though smaller and skinnier. Also while they take almost no time at all to reach full size, they will take FOREVER to mature and dry down. If they are not the right kind, let me know, by now I have stocked up enough seed from my own plants I can spare some, and I was looking for someone south of me to share a little (my strains is marginal for me, I usually get maybe 1/4 of the crop mature before we get frosted and the rest freeze.) windwalker p.s. if in going through the bag you find one or two rounder flatter seeds with light and dark brown streaks and a black hilum scar so big and deep it looks like someone scooped out part of the seed's side, let me know and I'll swap you for them. Those are not rice beans, and you can't eat them. |
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Post by circumspice on May 23, 2012 12:15:48 GMT -5
I checked it on Wiki & Vigna umbellata is the bean I have. Pretty interesting article. It makes some very positive statements about the use of this bean for human nutrition, animal fodder, soil amendment, ground cover, etc. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_bean There is an excellent pic of the beans in this wiki article. |
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Post by circumspice on May 23, 2012 12:25:27 GMT -5
p.s. if in going through the bag you find one or two rounder flatter seeds with light and dark brown streaks and a black hilum scar so big and deep it looks like someone scooped out part of the seed's side, let me know and I'll swap you for them. Those are not rice beans, and you can't eat them. Windwalker, Just for curiosity's sake, what are they? 
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Post by blueadzuki on May 23, 2012 14:47:05 GMT -5
p.s. if in going through the bag you find one or two rounder flatter seeds with light and dark brown streaks and a black hilum scar so big and deep it looks like someone scooped out part of the seed's side, let me know and I'll swap you for them. Those are not rice beans, and you can't eat them. Windwalker, Just for curiosity's sake, what are they? well, there are a LOT of things that could show up that might fit the criterion, but what I was thinking of (and hoping for) was wild soybean. I have acess to, and go through a LOT of rice bean bags, mostly for the "other stuff" by now. As a result I have accumulated sufficient quantities of most of the weeds that can show up (barring a few real rarities) to keep viable populations of them going on my own (I'm a bit klutzy when it comes to actual planting and have really bad Lutton Growts, so I usually try and bank at least 100 of a seed before I do a growout, in the hope that then at least one should make it all the way to maturity) But the soybean I'm still really short on, it just does not show up all that often (say, 1 seed in 1/100 bags). So every one is precios. The other kind of wild soybean is even rarer, but since that one only shows up in ONE brand (Wells) unless that is the brand you happened to have gotten, it's a no hope for that one. Other things you might find that are worth saving include spurred butterfly pea (a small tan bean shaped seed with dark brown streaks edged in yellow) sensitive plant (tiny dull brown discs, probably still in thier pod fragments (if you see shiny ones that look like them, toss those out, that's giant sensitive plant, and is invasive.) Love in a Puff (little black spheres the size of peppercorns with a white heart on one side). None of them are edible either, but they at least have pretty flowers. Also one of the bindweed like seeds (the one with the notch over the hilum and the ridge along the back) is sort of worth growing, it's tame enough to keep under control (it doesn't actually climb, just run along the ground) and has pretty yellow and black flowers. There is a lot of other stuff, but a full list would take up a page of text, so if you find something odd. describe it, and I'll try to identify. |
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(I've had tomatoes in the garden from Feb 7th till the end of Oct... that's 240+ days) 
It might be because of my ISP, I don't know for sure. 
