Snap Beans Which are Continuous Producers

[Zone9b]

I would like to develop a list of Snap Beans that are continuous producers and don't require successive planting to extent the harvest season.
Continuous Producers I believe to include:
Boone
Crockett
Espada
Jade
Jade II
Masai
Savannah
If you know of more please let us know. Also, if you know varieties which definitely
require successive planting for an extended harvest, let us know.
Thanks,
Larry

[sjamesNorway]

I like Jade. Provider (bush) is also very good, can be sown fairly early, and provide longer than many bush beans. I still sow successively in two plantings, though.

Steve

[Worth1]

You can look at bush beans like you would determinate tomatoes.
They produce and then play out.
Pole and or runner beans will keep producing but at a lower rate per plant than bush.

This is why we always planted bush beans.
We wanted them to all come in close to the same time so we could can them.

Kentucky wonder or any flat Italian type bean has always been my favorite.
They come in bush and pole types.

Worth

[Zone9b]

I got this very helpful answer to a question from Harris Seeds Customer Service:
"With a continuous set variety you will get 2-3 very good picks and the next 2-3 will decrease in volume. These varieties will continue to set new pods if they are kept picked. They do not need to be harvested at an immature stage. A concentrated set variety sets all of their pods at once and they are developed for a once over harvest. They will not set continuously if they are harvested at an immature stage."
I'm going to read between the lines as it relates to what I think are varieties which don't fit neatly into the category of Continuous Set or Concentrated Set. I'm guessing that a number of varieties that are advertised as requiring successive planting to extend the harvest may fit this inbetween category.
Some of the varieties that indicate successive planting may truly be Concentrated Set.
I'm am growing 2 varieties this season (Cassidy and Pike) which I'm guessing I will get 2 or maybe 3 picks from. But it will give me an opportunity to pick frequently immature beans on a couple of short rows to see if it makes any difference for these particular varieties.
Varieties which I have grown which defiantly fit in the Continuous Set category are Jade II, Espada and Crockett. I have to say I like Crockett. It does better than others in my challenging Fall environment, has excellent disease resistance and tastes good too. Espada seems to preform better than others in my better Spring environment.

I've had similar experience as Worth in that Bush Snap beans work better for me than Pole Snap beans. I have grown many varieties of snap poles and most don't work well for me. This season I am planting only Rattlesnake Snap Poles. They grow and produce when others don't. They have big strings but they grow and taste good.
Larry

[Worth1]

I had a pole bean seed convert to a bush bean last year it was from pinto beans I planted from an eating bean bag.
The first generation were pole the volunteer was a bush.

Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

My family grows strike. It's usually the grass growing up in the row that brings the tilling up of the last crop and re-planting. Or sometimes when it rains too much, they fall over in the mud and rot, or get what look like fungal problems similar to tomato blight. I've always thought that with better care, the harvest window could be extended past the 2-3 pickings we get.

[KarenO]

for northern gardens, in general you will get a bigger harvest from bush beans, pole beans being too late for ongoing harvests in a 120 day frost free season. provider is a great one for a northern garden because it will germinate in cooler soil but there are many others that do very well. For freezing, canning or pickling, many gardeners prefer bush beans for a more concentrated harvest. keeping bush beans picked and not allowing a maturity of pods that have fully formed seeds does extend the harvest to some extent (a couple weeks at least) in my experience.
for home gardeners, succession planting will also extend the harvest perhaps better than trying to find a variety that fruits over a longer period because disease might take the longer fruiting plants down, especially if they are stressed by fruit production, heat etc.
KarenO

[wildcat62]

We like Kentucky Wonder & Tenderette bush beans.

[EPawlick]

Originally Posted by KarenO

for northern gardens, in general you will get a bigger harvest from bush beans, pole beans being too late for ongoing harvests in a 120 day frost free season. provider is a great one for a northern garden because it will germinate in cooler soil but there are many others that do very well. For freezing, canning or pickling, many gardeners prefer bush beans for a more concentrated harvest. keeping bush beans picked and not allowing a maturity of pods that have fully formed seeds does extend the harvest to some extent (a couple weeks at least) in my experience.
for home gardeners, succession planting will also extend the harvest perhaps better than trying to find a variety that fruits over a longer period because disease might take the longer fruiting plants down, especially if they are stressed by fruit production, heat etc.
KarenO

Also from the Northern perspective--I found Burpee's blue lake bush beans were very prolific all summer and fall.

[ContainerTed]

After going thru "forty-eleven" different varieties of pole and snap beans, I've finally settled on Blue Lake. It gives me a very early start and a few "messes" for eating fresh early in the growing season. Then it floods the picking baskets with plenty to have us canning for a while.

After that rush, if you keep them alive and bug-free, they will give you a few more "messes" for fresh eating. The other choice is to have a second crop. They are early enough that when the first plants finally go down, you can till and plant a second crop that will be ready well ahead of frost.

For the last two years I've ordered "Blue Lake 274 Bush Beans" from Henry Fields and have been very satisfied with the purity of the seeds. Local Co-ops have had seeds that were not true to type and some that were just wrong (Blue Lakes were actually Half Runners).

[Worth1]

My family grew blue lake beans from Henry Fields too.
They are very good

[Zone9b]

A few more to add to the list of Bush Snap Bean continuous producers:

Blue Lake 274
Contender
Cupidon
Derby
Kentucky Wonder Bush
Provider
Soleil (yellow)
Strike
Tenderette

[Zone9b]

This is the list of Bush Snap Bean Continuous Producers which I have found to-date. I'm sure the list is not complete and I'm not even 100% sure it is totally accurate but at least it maybe of interest to a gardener who wants to grow bush snap beans without the requirement of successive plantings. If anyone knows of additional varieties to add to the list or varieties which should be taken off the list please post.
Thanks
Larry

Blue Lake 274
Boone
Brittle Wax (yellow)
Contender
Crockett
Cupidon
Derby
Espada
Jade
Jade II
Kentucky Wonder Bush
Masai
Provider
Savannah
Soleil (yellow)
Spartan Arrow
Strike
Tenderette

[KarenO]

Thanks, that is a great list
KarenO

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by KarenO

Thanks, that is a great list
KarenO

Thank you KarenO.
If one was growing to can or freeze the produce or maybe to sell at a farmer's market knowing what varieties produced a concentrated set could be useful. I understand Concentrated Set to mean almost all beans are produced for the first pick and any second pick would be quite small.

Concentrated Set Producers I believe to include:

Alicante
Ambra
Festina
Hialeah
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