Beefy Resilient Grex
I had very low germination rates for several of these selections, though I don't know whether that is due to human error (faulty seed storage), environmental factors (severe drought), or genetic factors because of the nature of the interspecific cross. For some of the selections, I lost all of the beans that I planted. While that's certainly quite a shame, I did get enough overall to keep me busy for years to come.
Black Big 3
Total seeds planted: 12
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 98
Yield: 21g (1.75g/seed planted)
This produced results about as expected. The seeds are a deep brown, even darker than the parent. It may be worth increasing for taste trials if I have space.
Black Pinto 1
Total seeds planted: 16
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 93
Yield: 25g (1.56g/seed planted)
I was expecting all of the seeds from this selection to look identical to the parent. I was amazed when I harvested the pods to find a range of shades of brown seeds with light speckled patterns. It is everything I could have hoped for in a pinto and has become my favorite Beefy selection of the year.
Black Pinto 5
Total seeds planted: 17
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: N/A
Yield: None
Black Small 3
Total seeds planted: 27
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 90
Yield: 219g (8.11g/seed planted)
While this selection continued to produce a high yield, I was disappointed that the pods did not turn as brilliant a color as those of the parent. I tasted one pod at the snap stage, and though it was reasonably flavorful, it was still green at that point in its maturity. The pods don't develop their distinctive color until later, making it useless as a "visual interest" snap bean. I will probably grow this again because members of my family like black beans, but I'm not partial to them myself, so I won't make it a priority.
I have tentatively named this selection "Caravan."
Brown 1
Total seeds planted: 18
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: N/A
Yield: None
Brown 5
Total seeds planted: 11
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: N/A
Yield: None
Brown 6
Total seeds planted: 18
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: N/A
Yield: None
Brown Pinto 4
Total seeds planted: 17
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 100
Yield: 32g (1.88g/seed planted)
When I opened the pods of this selection, I didn't recognize the beans at first. The seeds were a horribly unattractive khaki without even the faint mottling of the parent. I might have tried growing them out another year in the hope of getting a different appearance in the next generation, but now that Black Pinto 1 has proven perfect for my needs, I won't have to bother.
Burgundy 3
Total seeds planted: 10
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 100
Yield: 21g (2.1g/seed planted)
This one turned out pretty much as expected. The seeds are small, but they are an assortment of shades of brown that seem to glow from within depending on the light. If I have space, I will likely grow this again.
Burgundy 5
Total seeds planted: 8
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 100
Yield: 24g (3g/seed planted)
This was the greatest disappointment of the year. The parent seeds were unique and stunning. When I opened the first pods this year, I couldn't believe my eyes. The plants had produced matte charcoal-black seeds, average and boring. In addition, though the plants produced large numbers of pods, most of them curled up without developing any beans inside.
I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and see what they might become in future generations, but I will reserve that for a year when I have fewer exciting selections taking up space.
Burgundy 7
Total seeds planted: 12
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 81
Yield: 74g (6.17g/seed planted)
This selection had pleasingly early maturity and reasonably high yield. However, the appearance wasn't as exciting as the parent's had been. I will probably grow it out another year because of its good points. If I'm lucky, the offspring will be more interesting in color and shape.
Burgundy 9
Total seeds planted: 5
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 100
Yield: 33g (6.6g/seed planted)
This selection surprised me. Though few pods survived to maturity, the ones that did had large seeds, leading to a promising yield figure. Also, there were two distinct phenotypes. One was a rather boring black, but the other was a fascinating brown with a flattened, lima-bean shape. I am definitely growing the brown phenotype out to increase it.
Gold 5
Total seeds planted: 18
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 87
Yield: 70g (3.89g/seed planted)
This selection's main advantage is its early maturity. However, I have so many other options to pursue, I'm not going to focus on any of the plain gold beans.
Gold 6
Total seeds planted: 6
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 90
Yield: 18g (3g/seed planted)
If I were interested in gold beans, it might be worth keeping this one for further trials, but I'll be setting it aside for now.
Gold 7
Total seeds planted: 18
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: 100
Yield: 8g (0.44g/seed planted)
This selection performed extremely poorly. Even if I cared to try more gold beans, it wouldn't make the cut.
Tan 1
Total seeds planted: 12
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: N/A
Yield: None
Tan 3
Total seeds planted: 9
Date planted: 4/18/14
Days to first dry pod: N/A
Yield: None
Jump to: [Beefy Resilient Grex] [Cafe] [Capirame] [Enrayada]
The second trial was to plant out the seeds reserved from a single early maturing/high yielding specimen plant. I planted them in different areas of the yard. The plot grown with a higher level of shade performed extremely poorly. However, the seeds in a different area of the yard produced a very high yield, though they were not particularly early. I saved all of the seeds from the high yielding plots, which should be worth planting out again to see if the yield continues.
For the third trial, I planted out nine seeds from the ones I suspected might either be a hybrid with Purple Podded Pole or a recessive throwback to an earlier population from which Rio Zape had been selected. Based on the phenotypes of the nine resulting plants, I decided that my first hypothesis had been correct, and the "Rio Zape Gray" seeds were the result of a natural cross between Rio Zape and Purple Podded Pole. I numbered each plant based on its location.
Growth habit: Vine
Yield: 67g
Growth habit: Bush
Yield: 5g
Growth habit: Vine
Yield: 15g
Growth habit: Bush
Yield: 5g
Growth habit: Bush
Yield: 4g
Growth habit: Vine
Yield: 75g
Growth habit: Vine
Yield: 135g
Growth habit: Vine
Yield: 18g
Growth habit: Bush
Yield: 5g
Of all the plants, I was most excited by #1 and #6, which had the distinctive Rio Zape color (though #1 was lacking the stripes) and a promising yield. Selection #7 blew the others out of the water with respect to yield, but I was not impressed by the appearance. I will probably grow out samples of all three with the goal of developing a variety combining the rich Rio Zape flavor and the high yield of Purple Podded Pole.
In contrast, when I grew out the seeds that I had obtained from manually crossing Rio Zape and Purple Podded Pole, all of the offspring were identical to the mother plant. I suspect that any viable seeds were simply the result of self-pollination rather than the attempted cross.
Jump to: [Beefy Resilient Grex] [Rio Zape] [Capirame] [Enrayada]
Jump to: [Beefy Resilient Grex] [Rio Zape] [Cafe] [Enrayada]
Yield: 7 seeds
Yield: 9 seeds
Yield: 11 seeds
Yield: 18 seeds
Yield: 12 seeds
Yield: 6 seeds
Yield: 7 seeds
Yield: 13 seeds
Jump to: [Beefy Resilient Grex] [Rio Zape] [Cafe] [Capirame]Rio Zape
I attempted a number of different trials with my Rio Zape selections. For the first trial, I planted the seeds that appeared black with light speckles to see whether that appearance would be inherited. Of the resulting plants, none produced any black seeds; they all looked like standard Rio Zape. I decided the appearance likely did not have a genetic basis.
RZ x PPP 1
RZ x PPP 2
RZ x PPP 3
RZ x PPP 4
RZ x PPP 5
RZ x PPP 6
RZ x PPP 7
RZ x PPP 8
RZ x PPP 9
When I harvested all of the Rio Zape parent seeds that I had grown for comparison (and eating), I did obtain one pod containing seeds that displayed an unusual dark purple netting covering the surface. Like the black seeds mentioned above, it is entirely possible that the distinctive appearance is caused by environmental rather than genetic factors, but it will be interesting to test.
Tarahumara Cafe
I planted out 18 seeds from the striped variant of Cafe that I had obtained in 2013. After harvesting the pods, I was able to sort the beans into nine distinct phenotypes. Most of them were shades of cream or beige with brown stripes. Some resembled the original Cafe but with slightly altered shape or color. None of them were particularly exciting, but I will save them for trials in future years.Tarahumara Capirame
I planted 18 seeds of the pink speckled variant of Capirame that I tentatively named "Jellybean." This resulted in 8 different phenotypes. All of them had extremely low yield, but the appearances of the beans are so striking, it should be worth growing them out to see whether the offspring might display more promising productivity.
Jellybean "Big Pink"
Jellybean "Lavender"
Jellybean "Light Red"
Jellybean "Pink"
Jellybean "Purple"
Jellybean "Purple Glitter"
Jellybean "Red"
Jellybean "White"
Of the resulting colors and sizes, I will probably grow all of them except "White," which is similar enough to the original Capirame that I don't feel the need to pursue it at this time.
My plot of the parent Capirame produced a few seeds that appeared mostly red with white speckles. I suspect that this variation is not genetic, but I will plant it out and see what happens.
