Green bean question :-)

After having my Fortex and Pelandron beans cross-pollinate I decided to grow only one variety a year if I want to save seeds, which I routinely do. Do the rest of you find that happening, or don't you save bean seeds?

Makes sense unless you grow them in different beds far away from each other like I did last summer. How did your cross come out?

It was okay but I preferred both varieties unadulterated. The Pelandron are bush beans - very prolific with a somewhat thick pod and purple blotches. What I ended up with were pole beans that were broader than the usual Fortex, with the purple blotches rather than Fortex's solid green.

Sounds interesting!

It was, but they weren't as good as either of the parent plants' products!

The "Roma Italian" pole bean is stringless and is a huge producer. They are flat rather than round. Once I planted this variety I never planted any other variety.

I use Sluggo Plus on my green beans because pill bugs are a problem.

But you have also reminded me of something else I do, since my row is small, and that works even more reliably, although it's fiddly. I ring each seedling with a collar made of a cut-up Solo cup. I don't think I've ever lost one that had one of those collars. Good for small rows, anyway.

Cut up Yogurt Cups work well also.

I plant out my tomatoes and peppers and eggplants in toilet paper rolls cut in half across their length, or paper towel rolls cut in thirds or quarters. I've used diatomaceous earth for pill bugs but you have to be careful not to inhale it.

I also sprinkle Sluggo Plus around my seedlings to deter the pill bugs.