Well, Mauirose, the jury's still out. The seeds you sent me are growing well, and I've got a good stand... but factors beyond my control might prevent me from properly evaluating the variety.

Whether I like it or not, my whole garden this year is being transformed into a "cool weather" trial. Possibly some 40's at night here this week, record lows for this time of year. Very little rain too, so it's a good thing I have irrigation.

I'll post my results for "Stickless Wonder" on this thread.

BTW, the Moringa is also doing well, about 6" high & growing... but I don't think it will like the temps this week. It will have a lot of company, my okra & eggplant are really struggling too.

ooh, sorry to hear that Mr. Z. Sounds like a lot of folks are having a cool spring. This morning was nothing but rain and fog here but we probably hit 80 by the afternoon.

i put down a little chicken manure on the SW last night and could see some new leafy growth pushing out from the base of the plant so i'm hoping for more beans in a few weeks. i'll know to pick them shorter this time around. The plants really are compact-i have a few short rows of pink-eye purple hul and Rouge de Burkina as well as the B5-3 Bush Sitao you sent which are all much bushier.

The other thing i noticed last night is that the Chinese Rose Beetles have, so far, not touched the v. unguiculata or the p. lunatus. They turn the p. vulagaris into lace. Probably i shouldn't say anything, it might just be a matter of time. i'll post if things change.

The PM is spreading on the long beans but i haven't noticed any on the cowpeas yet. Could be they are more resistant or it could be that they are younger, we'll see.

Just a quick update for the interested. Although the SW wanted to rally they were decimated by the powdery mildew. All v. unguiculata that i tried this year were equally susceptible although all produced a good first picking.

My SW are only now beginning to flower, later than most of my other cowpeas... and they have been developing short runners. But then, my other yardlongs are also way behind where they should be this year.

In comparison, the Chinese bush yardlong I grew last year (from Newgardener) was already bearing by this time. Of course, the weather this year could be causing the poor performance, so the comparison may not be a fair one. Provided I get seed from the SW this year, I will grow them side-by-side next year.

Two of my cowpeas, though ("MN 13" and "Green Dixie") have set large numbers of pods. They seem to be not only early, but cool-weather tolerant. As I've said before, you can learn good things from a bad year! ;-) "Green Dixie" is a particularly large-seeded variety, so for it to be loaded with pods this early is very encouraging.

Oh, and since this is your thread, Mauirose, a Moringa update. In spite of the cooler weather, my plants are now 2 feet tall, and I just picked the first harvest of leaves yesterday. The wife made a white soup with it, along with coconut milk, bamboo shoots, ginger, and chicken.

mmm, sounds good.

i keep telling my husband i need a good wife ; )

i notice that Baker's Creek has a thai bush yardlong listed. i might give it a try. The short row of B5-3 i planted produced well i thought. Enjoyed preparing them with some red noodle beans that were coming in around the same time.