Too much leafy growth?

[PunkRotten]

Hi,



I have a few bush beans planted around my garden. I put some of them in spots where I plan to start basil next year. I know legumes fix nitrogen into the soil, but what if I were to plant a flowering plant where the beans were?

I guess what I am trying to get at is will it cause a lot of leafy growth? Is it one of those things that you have to be careful with? I guess I am trying to gauge how much Nitrogen they put into the soil and if it is an amount that will affect a flowering plant. That is why I was careful where I planted the beans.

[rainbowgardener]

No, it's not like putting a bunch of synthetic fertilizer in. Where the beans were will be a good place to grow other things and will definitely not over fertilize them. In fact if you pulled the bean plants out whole (including the roots), the effect from them having been there will be very mild. Lots of the nitrogen they fix is in the roots. If you want to get the most benefit of it, when the beans are done, cut the plants off at soil level and leave the roots to decompose in the ground, releasing their nitrogen.

[Trevor]

I agree with RG. Most of the nitrogen fixed is in the roots, so it's best to let them decompose in the ground.

[Bobberman]

Doesn't the nitrogen come from a bacteria on the roots. I rememer they had beans or was it peas where they put a power on them before they planted to fix the more bacteria on the roots! Ya I would not worry about too much. Putting urea or blood meal would really put much more! I think if you want nitrogen blood meal or cotton seed mill gives a slower release but what comes f the bean or pea roots is perfect for any plants except maybe potatoes!