"wait, wait...are you saying I can put six HUNDRED plants in a 10x10 plot???" Those yields are based upon a degree of soil conditioning that is very labor-intensive... and while I have read of such recommendations, I have yet to see photos, or hear first-hand observations, proving that they would work for most gardeners. All of the digging aside, in my area, I'd be flirting with disaster if I crowded my beans that closely. Personally, I wouldn't recommend it. Most bush beans - when healthy & mature - have a footprint of 1/2 - 1 sq. ft. or larger. 100 plants (1 per sq. ft.) should be a safe bet; I've successfully used 6" between plants w/ 2-foot spacing between rows, which is close to the same thing. You might be able to get away with 2-3 plants per sq. ft. for the more compact varieties. Crowding more closely than that may work in the warm dry climate of California; but in the cooler, wetter Northern climes, it could lead to severe disease problems. I'm not saying that it wouldn't work... just that I wouldn't put all my eggs in that one basket, unless/until small-scale trials proved it to be successful. In a post above, I had mentioned "seed efficiency". To put that in perspective, large kidney beans are somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-60 seeds per ounce. If planted at the recommended bio-intensive density of 600+ for a 10' X 10' plot, you would need between 10-16 ounces of seed to plant... so you would need to buy (or save from the previous season) a pound of seed. Assuming you harvest 24 pounds of dry seed (which is, keep in mind, the best case scenario), it would represent a return of between 24/1 & 38/1, depending upon seed size. Most gardeners would get much less than that, since the maximum is for experienced gardeners, on well amended soil. In contrast, my observations are that large-seeded bush beans, given the 6" plant/2' row spacing I mentioned above, are easily capable of a seed increase of between 50/1 - 100/1. Small-seeded types will tend to yield about the same weight/plant, but at an even higher ratio of increase, well over 100/1... so in terms of cost effectiveness (if purchasing seed) small is often better. Pole beans can do better still; the "Striped Cornfield" I grew this year (@45 seeds/oz.) produced a return of over 500/1! My results were obtained by mechanical tilling, with leaves & mulch turned under each season. Using these numbers, the same kidney beans - if grown in 5 rows in the same 10' X 10' plot - would be 100 plants. This would produce between 5 & 10 pounds of seed minimum... with only 2 ounces of seed required for planting, the average in a packet of beans. Also, at this spacing, the plants have sufficient air flow through the foliage to minimize the chances of disease during prolonged periods of rainfall. Having tested that theory in some very bad years recently (such as in 2008) I consider these yields to be realistically attainable, year after year. I don't doubt that my spacings could be improved upon; it is something that I often experiment with. Most likely, there is a happy medium somewhere between row spacing & high-density plantings which will produce the best yield, for a given area, with the littlest possible seed. That "happy medium" should take into account the expected annual variations in climate, since what works well one year, might not work the next. With soybeans, I have had some success with closely-spaced double rows, with standard row spacing between the pairs... so that may work for bush beans as well. Given the observations I have made on over 100 bean varieties over the years, I expect the optimal spacing will vary widely, depending upon variety, climate, and soil fertility. So there is really no "one correct answer" for bean spacing... just starting points for personal experimentation. Keep in mind, John Jeavons' bio-intensive recommendations mentioned above pertain to bush beans only. Pole beans are not suitable for wide bed planting, due to shading. However, you can have the best of both worlds using pole beans. Planted in a single row on the North side of the bed (where they would not shade shorter crops), they take up a relatively small footprint. A high-yielding pole variety could give you 3-4 pounds of dry seed from one row in that same 10' X 10' bed. You could use the majority of the bed(s) for other things, and still get a good crop of beans. My apologies for all of the long (and probably dry) posts, but as an amateur researcher, I just wanted to share some "bean science". Just wish this was on the Bean Forum.

Yardlongs (which botanically are climbing cowpeas) do not appear to cross easily. I grow at least 3 varieties each year, using the distance + barrier crop method; they are separated by about 50 feet, with trellises of beans, limas, runner beans, or other flowering crops between. So far, I have yet to have a cross... so planting on opposite sides of the yard should work, especially if there are plentiful flowers between them. "Tulle" - now there's an idea! I have been looking for an alternative to the spun-polyester floating row covers (like Remay) and the light-transparent screen, which is fairly expensive. I will need to do some research; I don't know the mesh sizes available, or what widths it comes in, or how durable it is... but it certainly sounds promising. I'm likely to get some funny looks buying it, though. (lol) If the insects will be unable to penetrate the fabric & it allows sufficient airflow to prevent solar heating, it should work. My only reservation is that I believe it is rather stiff... but that could turn out to be a good thing. It might work well for bean cages. Only one way to find out, I suppose... and I will be experimenting with it this summer. Thanks for the idea! >"It's a brand new garden in a completely new growing zone and I just can't resist trying out a bunch of different beans."As one legumaniac to another, I understand completely! ;-)

Well, so long as you aren't going to tear up something productive in order to do it and aren't really in the mood to drop alot of money on seed for your cover plants then I'd say a bean soup mix is the right answer for you. I know several people who have planted soup mix and they were all delighted with the variety of beans that popped out of the ground, different shapes and colors and sizes and forms, imposible to figure out as an asthetic companion plant, but wonderful none the less. Also, innoculating with rhyzobium bacteria in some form or another wouldn't be a bad idea, it would help them fix more nitrogen and the innoculant would probably pay for itself in crop yield increse on the beans (if you wait that long) and on whatever you plant in there beds next.

I'm growing unnamed long beans right now and they have dull yellowish green flowers.. I'm also growing black eyed peas which are cowpeas and are the same species of plant as long beans. The leaves and flowers are identical but the black eyed peas are a bush variety... So it would be difficult to know the variety of the first plant amongst long beans. If you dry some seed from that plant, you might get a clue on what's goin on, OR you may not. I'm a little confused with mine because my seeds are black if left to completely dry in the pod but if you pull the seeds from the dried pod early, the seeds turn out a brick red. I don't know what process is going on there. I've never grown the red variety before so I can't coment on the flower. Seed can and do get mixed up, weather it be physically or genetically. I bought some moon shadow hyacinth beans a couple of years ago and had some purple leaved variety beans mixed in. As a kid, I remember planting a white lima bean and the beans the plant produced looked like Christmas limas... So mixups can happen...