Nitrogen fixing BEANS planted with CORN to provide Nitrogen

[Gary350]

I saw a TV show about, High Tech Farming. Nitrogen mixing beans take nitrogen from the air and put it in the soil. If these beans are planted with corn it provides nitrogen to the corn. Corn is a stripper crop it strips the soil of all its nitrogen.

Nitrogen fixing beans are planted before winter wheat to provide nitrogen for the wheat.

I took FFA in school I already knew nitrogen fixing beans causes beans to take nitrogen from the air and put it in the soil. I knew corns is a stripper crop that needs lots of nitrogen. I never knew planting beans with corn would give corn natural nitrogen.

Wonder if we can plant nitrogen fixing beans with other crops?

Seems to me a crop of beans before planting onions or garlic will be good nitrogen for the next crop that needs nitrogen.

Wonder if we can plant beans and corn side by side in the garden?

Has anyone experimented with this or know anything about this for the garden?

[Allyn]

Planting beans and corn together was a method native Americas practiced long before Europeans showed up in North America. So yeah, this is tried and true.

I sometimes plant the beans and corn together so the corn stalk is the support for the pole bean plant.

[Peter1142]

AFAIK, the nitrogen is no added back to the soil until the roots decompose.

[rainbowgardener]

That is correct. But the legumes are pulling their N out of the atmosphere, so they aren't competing with the corn for it. And when they are done and turned under, they replenish the soil from what the corn took out.

The traditional Native American garden was Three Sisters: plant corn, after it's been up 2-3 weeks, plant the beans to grow up it, after they have been up 2-3 weeks, plant squash to grow along the ground around them. I've never done it, but I am planning a Three Sisters garden next spring.

[theforgottenone1013]

Agree with Peter. Once the bean roots start to break down the nitrogen will be released. As the bean plants are growing they are using some of the nitrogen themselves while storing it. For best results plant the beans the year before in the spot you plan to plant corn.

If you believe in the companion planting stuff, legumes and alliums are supposed to affect each other negatively when grown near each other. I don't believe that and it's never been true in my garden. Planting alliums after legumes sounds like a good idea to me.

-Rodney

[imafan26]

This is true. Also if you are using beans or other legume as a cover crop, you either have to have a good natural supply of mycorrhizal and rhyzobium organizms to colonize the roots. Specific rhyzobium species are paired with specific plants. You need the right combination for the best results. Mycorrhizal fungi help all kinds of plants. The fungi association with the root systems helps plants absorb nutrients better. Not just any bacterial will do. There are specific species depending on the crop. Some legumes are better fixers than others and if you are eating the beans, you are not getting much in the way of nitrogen fixing. Nitrogen fixation peaks around flowering. That is when the cover crop should be tilled in. The plants and bacteria die and the nitrogen that is released benefits the next crop, not the current crop.
The most common legumes for nitrogen fixing are cowpeas, vetch, sunhemp, peanuts, soybeans, and fava beans. Common string beans are poor nitrogen fixers. If you wait until pods form, the nitrogen fixing has ceased as the plant puts energy into developing the seeds and if you are eating the seeds, that energy is taken out of the system.

Beans and corn are good companions because the beans can require less nitrogen than corn. The cornstalks will become the poles for the beans to climb on and the squash will be the mulch.

Beans actually do need nitrogen. If the soil is poor in nitrogen fixers, and low in nitrogen the beans will be small. If you are feeding nitrogen to the corn, the beans can scavenge the remainder. Remember also that the American Indians did 'fertilize' by putting the fish at the bottom of the planting hole.

https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A129/
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/facu ... hizae.html

[jal_ut]

Yes the beans do enrich the soil with nitrogen. However, I say plant a bean patch and a corn patch. Both will do better alone than when grown together. Next year plant the corn where the beans were.

Commercial fertilizers labeled NPK are quite common. (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium)

In this area the N is what is most often needed. I like to sprinkle the whole garden with some N based pelleted fertilizer before planting.