Beans update

2 weeks after sowing the seeds for 2 new families of beans, the plants have made quite good progress since. and thankfully, no sign of the furry bugs.

The unknown white beans are relatively easy to grow. their germination success rate is much higher than red beans, and the time taken to reach stability (rooted into the soil) is also much less. apparently once the plant is firmly rooted, it will survive to adulthood, unless diseased or desecrated. so that means out of an equal number of red beans and white beans cultured, the number of white beans that wil survive to adulthood is about triple of red beans.

I am growing 11 white bean plants. 9 in one big container, another 1 mistakenly planted with the red beans, and the other alone in a small container, placed in direct sunlight. the mix-up occured cos i cultured the red n white beans together. and somehow after shooting, some white bean's coats become a deceptive red color, same as red beans. so i was at first pleased i had a red bean growing so much faster than its 'fellow red beans', and the truth was soon revealed. i also have 5 true red bean plants, sharing a container with the outsider.

The white bean plants are green in colour. they have a thick stem and broad leaves. the first pair are dark green and waxy. no veins on upper surface. as for subsequent sets, leaves are almond shaped, lighter green and more delicate; veins can be seen clearly. similar to green bean and red bean plants, they comes in sets of 3.

Red bean plants are also green. compared to the white beans, they have a much longer (longer than green beans also) and thinner stem, and smaller roots. altogether this makes it much more fragile. they are unable to stand upright like the white bean plants. once a strong wind blows, they will lean backwards, so they are left in that position. cotyledons are held at the base near the roots and doesnt split, unlike white and green bean's, which are held at middle of stem and splits apart. 1st pair of leaves are dark green, shows veins, slightly rough texture bigger than green bean's. subsequent sets are lighter green, slightly waxy. Whats special about red bean leaves is that the 1st pair are nicely heart shaped. could be used on valentines day! haha. but only the 1st pair. the others are of a very different shape.

the white beans shot up at first, leaving the red beans far behind in growth. by the time they spread their broad leaves, the red beans were still just small shoots, some even still trying to take root. then the 2nd sets were emerging while the red beans just opened their small hearty leaves. but from then the red beans sprang up fast, overtaking the white beans. after not seeing one of them for 2 days, it grew from having a small 1st set to full sized 1st set and 2nd set opened. right now, all the white beans have their 2nd set fully dveloped, and some are just starting to grow 3rd sets, while 4 red beans have 2nd sets almost fully developed, and 2 have 3rd sets alr coming up.

both the species are rather different and uniquely interesting. now its a race between them to developing pods! from what i see, both species have fairly good chance of winning. its about stability vs haste.