Extension
Date of this Version
1990
Abstract
This NebGuide discusses cultivar selection, production, pest management and packing of commercial green beans.
Cultivars
Selection of cultivars depends on intended use or market. "Processor" cultivars are low in fiber and are best for home garden and roadside markets as well as processing. These include the various Bush Blue Lake selections (BBL 47, BBL 92, BBL 274) and others such as Early Gallatin, Eagle, Slenderwhite, Labrador, Flo, and Peak. The "fresh market" or "shipping" beans have high fiber to maintain quality during long distance shipping. These include Strike, Podsquad, Blazer, Triumph, Atlantic, Gatorgreen, Greencrop, Sprite, and many others. Cultivars with colored seed coats (Provider, Atlantic, Homestyle, and many "heritage" or "old-fashioned" beans) tend to germinate quicker in cool soils and resist seedling diseases better than cultivars with white seed coats. In later spring plantings when soil temperatures are warmer, there is no advantage to the dark seed coats. It should be noted that when dark-seeded beans are canned, the resulting canning broth will be dark and/or cloudy.
Comments
© 1990. The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska on behalf of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension. All rights reserved.