Beans and Peas in Bloom Together

12 years ago

Both the bush snap beans and sugar snap peas are in bloom at the same time. I guess I can thank/blame the weather for this. As far as I can remember, this is the first year I've ever had the cool-season peas start blooming at the same time as the warm-season beans. Usually my beans are just starting to produce as the peas are finishing up.

The sugar snap peas, of course, were planted earliest, but then struggled to hang on in a really wet February-March that also featured some hot weather (hot in terms of what peas like) that made them stall and stop growing for a while.

The beans were planted a good 5 or 6 weeks earlier than usual and really haven't had any issues, other than something chewing on their leaves a little here and there. I am a little surprised they're already in bloom. That one 90-degree day we had here did seem to cause everything in the garden to start zooming up tall overnight, although it has been significantly cooler ever since.

Last week the sugar snap peas began blooming and setting peas. Considering when they were planted, I thought it was about time they should be blooming.

This week the three snap bean varieties that were planted earliest began blooming. It seems kinda soon for that, but I am not complaining. The other 4 varieties were planted about 3 weeks later, so won't bloom for a while yet.

So, looking at the two of them, it seems likely the pea plants will produce the first edible pod to be harvested, but they'll just barely beat the beans by a few days.

What an odd occurrence!

Other stuff we're harvesting and eating now are lettuce and other mesclun greens, beet greens, green onions, and spinach. Oh, and some herbs.

The early potatoes began blooming last week, so I think we'll be able to steal some new potatoes to cook with the first bush beans we harvest. Things don't get much better than that in April.

Now that the bush beans are producing, I'd better get busy planting pole beans. They go into a lower-lying area, so I've been waiting for that soil to dry up some and I think it is about as dry as it will get before the next round of rain showers makes it wetter again.

Veggie gardening is so much more fun when the harvest starts rolling in.

Dawn

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Comments (3)

biradarcm
12 years ago
Dawn,
That is awesome! We ate about a dozen pods of snap peas from the first batch a week ago. first and second batch are in good blooms.

Our bush beans are still in their first or second true leaves, I hope it will take a while for them to bloom. Yes something has chewed our beans leaves as well, but I not see any new damage on fresh leaves.

I see some blooms in few potatoes as well. Do you remove blooms from potato plants?

Regarding warm days (upper 80s) next few days but peas prefer temp There was some infestation of the aphids on the peas, I washed them off with water spray. I never seen any pea aphids in the fast. I just wonder any of you noticed them on peas in the past or this year?

Couple of pics of sweet peas taken in the weekend;

-Chandra
gardenrod
12 years ago
Great gardening from you guys.
My peas (and potatoes) are about 3' tall with NO blooms.
I expect better since I am now in Zone 7a (Tulsa), but I have to keep reminding myself that this is gardening in Oklahoma.
Ron
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PV: My experience has been that you can plant two of the same type together (i.e. two different beans, two different peas) as long as the growth habit is similar. So, if two bush varieties, you're good. Bush and pole-types together are a mess if interplanted. The pole vines spread through the bush varieties and tangle themselves--think a knot of twine that takes two hours to work out. I grew regular bush string beans and Italian flat bush beans together with no problem. I hated the Italian beans (go figure)--absolutely the worst-tasting things I have ever grown. Two plants of each type wouldn't feed a crow. I just planted 200+ sugar snap peas, and I'll be lucky if I get a few meals out of the harvest (for two). If your goal is just to play, then go for it. I planted 12 snap peas in the fall just to check growth habit and got maybe 15 edible pods before a hard freeze took them down. I ate them all while I was watering!
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These plants with tender tendrils do best on wooden lattice work, chicken wire or plastic mesh materials. They need something to grab onto quickly. You can wrap chicken wire or mesh-type material around your pole to help encourage them to climb. Their roots will thrive if you sow the seeds thickly, about 1/2 to 1 inch apart. I'm not sure as to the constricting issue since you didn't mention which climbing bean you are wanting to plant. Hope this helps.Good luck.
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I'm not sure where you are located, but unless you have sandy soil or 100 degree weather, watering that often should not be necessary. Beans in particular do not like having "wet feet". Allowing the soil to dry out before watering will encourage deeper root growth, and healthier plants. A thick layer of mulch around the base of the plants will help conserve moisture, and reduce the need for frequent irrigation. Mulch has another great benefit: it reduces mud splash. I've observed that beans - particularly when young - are very sensitive to the presence of wet soil on their leaves. If you ave been watering overhead frequently, the resultant mud splash could be stunting the plants. I usually see this to some extent, since I generally don't mulch my beans until they have their first true leaf. There might be a little yellowing during this period. Once I mulch & spray the leaves clean, they green up within a day or two, and begin growing vigorously.
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I think just waiting a few more days will do the trick. My pole snaps started blooming less than a week ago and I noticed the start of blooms on my pole limas today for the first time. Another pole bean has shown no buds yet. The question you asked pops up frequently at this time of the year, when all of us (we in the North anyway) start to get a little anxious about the pole beans. We see the crops the bush beans are putting out and wonder what is wrong with the pole beans. Patience. Jim
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
12 years ago
Chandra, I have had pea plants remain perfectly happy as long as the temperatures aren't exceeding 85 degrees, so I've never tried shading them. Be careful if you shade them because the shade will reduce their productivity a little.

Your plants look awesome, by the way.

I never remove the flowers from the potatoes. They do no harm. I think they are beautiful, and if you leave them alone they'll set inedible green fruit that contains seeds. Some potato varieties grow from seeds. Google Tom Wagner and true potato seed to read about his work with potato seed.

Rod, Usually peas will be setting blooms by the time they are that tall. With potatoes, in my experience, some varieties bloom earlier than others and it is not something I really worry about.

If you are even the tiniest bit concerned that the heat will burn up your pea plants before they can set peas, you can force them into production by giving them a Bloom Booster fertilizer of the type meant to cause ornamental flowering plants to produce more flowers. Some years I use a Bloom Booster immediately prior to the arrival a cool front in mid- to late-summer in order to force the tomato plants to be in bloom when the cool front arrives and knocks temperatures back down into the right range for fruitset. Generally I don't like to manipulate plants, but sometimes you can get better production by doing so.

Sometimes the peas just aren't ready to produce flowers yet and still are in a strongly vegetative cycle. Sometimes they don't form blooms because they have received a little too much nitrogen. Sometimes I think they are just stubborn and pig-headed, and won't bloom as long as you are eagerly watching for blooms. So, try ignoring them and see if that helps. This means you don't water or feed them, and above all else don't talk to them. They will feel neglected and will start blooming in order to get your attention. : )

The only consistent thing about gardening in Oklahoma is the inconsistency of the weather and the inconsistency of the plants' performance. I try to imagine what it would be like to garden someplace where things work as expected just like clockwork. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Dawn

Beans and Peas in Bloom Together

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biradarcm

gardenrod

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Beans and Peas in Bloom Together

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biradarcm

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