lilturtle
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Purple bush beans

This year I planted purple bush beans for the first time just to see how they are. They are deep purple for sure..LOL

This plant however does not seem very sturdy. I have had to prop them up in several places as they tned to just lean over on the ground. Has anyone else had any experience with this kind of bean plant? Is it typical for this particular variety to do this?

I never had this trouble with my regular green bush beans. I noticed the purple bush beans also sem to have very large leaves compared to the green.

lilT

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BrianSkilton
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Yeah they tend to lean more so then the yellow wax I have growing. Not sure, I just leave them be though. Right now there is enough other bean plants near them, so they tend to just lean on them. When cooked they are dark green, I wish they'd stay purple :).

vermontkingdom
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Do you happen to know what gives them the purple color? I too have some growing and quite frankly, I don't remember planting them. We've been picking yellow wax beans for three weeks and I've been reluctant to pick and eat the purple ones. For the most part, do they taste about the same? thanks

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applestar
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Purple coloring in vegetables and fruits come from anthocyanins, which has been found to have numerous health benefits.

Last year (and this year too -- they're just starting to flower), I grew Purple Podded Pole Beans. They turned darker green on cooking than Jade bush beans and made for a beautiful color contrast on the plate, especially when served with yellow beans. I think there is a noticeably stronger, but not unpleasant, "green" flavor when the purple beans are eaten alone, much like red cabbage has a stronger flavor.

So go pick your purple beans! Enjoy! :wink:
(Maybe the purples came from stray seeds in your seed packet)
Last edited by applestar on Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

lilturtle
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Thanks for the replies everyone. I am glad to know its just the nauture of the plant. I am excited to pick my first batch for dinner in couple days:)

Great info on the color and health benitits! Being a person with numerous health issues that is good to know.

garden5
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It might not be a bad idea to put a cage around them, or perhaps a piece of fence on the side that's really leaning.

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lorax
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It's so odd that all of yours are leaning - I grow the 'Royal Burgundy' cultivar and have never had that problem.

Lil T - if they seem really weak, try staking them with bamboo skewers or something similar. I've done that with weaker green bush beans, to great success.

lilturtle
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Yes I did put a cage around a couple that were bigger plants because they were laying over on their side.

lilturtle
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That is what these were suposed to be royal burgandy..but they are a very dark purple. With big leaves. I need to find a good source for bamboo rods also. I have cages around 2 of them and some yard stakes on some others. Looks kinda funny but its working for now.



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