So are you worried about spacing issues (that would be my concern with this intensive planting) or cross-pollination? If cross pollination is the concern then it only matters if you plan to save the bean seeds for re-planting next year. Otherwise it's no problem if they cross as you'll never know it. ;) The hybrid corn seeds wouldn't be saved for any reason of course.

Same with the corn. Corn will readily cross - much more so than beans.

But yes, if you plan to save the bean seeds then staggered 3 week planting dates is your only option.

Curious? How do you plan to do the supplemental high N feeding the corn needs without affecting the beans? They won't tolerate high N soil and still produce.

Dave

If your corn varieties are the same maturing dates then spacing them 3 weeks apart should work. HOWEVER -- the maturing date of the third planting will be less than the package says. In otherwords, your third planting may mature about the same time as your second planting. Most of the plant mature dates is usually baised on early planting. Planting the same type in warmer soil and longer sumlight speeds them up.

What Dave said about your beans is correct.

Dave:

I am new to all of this but basically I thought it was the 3 sisters method with only 2 ofthe sisters. Don't need the 3rd one. :) I also thought the beans took nitrogen from the air and helped feed the corn. If I am wrong please let me know and I can make changes before I get going with the corn and beans. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

paulc gardner: I didn't look at any of the corn seed bags before I typed this so I was just naming all 3 varieties of corn and beans. I haven't looked at the mature dates in a couple of weeks so I don't remember. I was going to do my best to space them out, also I probably wasn't going to start planting the corn until May 1, I am around Knoxville TN.

See someone told me yesterday that the cross pollination would make the beans taste not like they are supposed to.

See someone told me yesterday that the cross pollination would make the beans taste not like they are supposed to.

Not likely. ;) Bean blooms are self-fertile, self-pollinating so any crossing you get will be minimal and only from wind and insects. 90-95% of the crop will be unaffected - this year. Where the changes in size, appearance, taste, production, etc. would show up would be if you planted the saved seeds next year.

Beans do pull N from the air - you are right - and store it in nodes on their roots. But it isn't available to the soil and other plants immediately - the nodes have to decompose. That's why many of us don't pull up beans and pea plants but cut them off and leave the roots in the soil to decompose.

So with 3 sisters, the Amerindians used put a dead fish into the corn planting hole for some supplemental nitrogen. Can be done if you have dead fish readily available. ;) I have tried it years back - now I just toss the fish cleanings into the compost pile - but the results are less than ideal. Plus the corn they were growing back then was much less nutrient demanding than today's varieties. For best results it needs staged high N feedings during the season. The beans won't like that.

But timing on the planting can make a big difference.

Bush beans will kick into production much faster than will pole beans so they could beat the need-to-feed-the-corn dates but pole beans will hit their production stride right when the corn needs to be fed unless you really delay their planting.

There have been many discussions here in the past about the problems and successes of 3 Sisters. Likely you have already read through most of them but I'm linking a couple here that I recall that offer tips on staggering planting times of the corn and beans to prevent such problems. Plus they provide links to many additional sources of info too. I hope they will help some.

Three Sisters FAQ

3 Sisters Garden discussion

Honestly, and JMO but I would devote 2 of the beds to corn and one to beans - all 3 types - and not worry about saving the seeds. But give it a try and see how well it works for you.

Good luck. ;)

Dave

Yikes, I was planning on using the corn stalks to grow my pole beans, but I am also planning on side dressing with nitrogen for the corn. Guess I'll have to rethink the beans. Hmm, now to figure out where to plant pole beans.

Do they do well with tomoatoes? I may have a bit of space in the corners of the beds where the tomatoes are going.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure

None of your corn varieties sound like super sweets but any super sweets do need to be isolated from other kinds or this year's crop is affected. Pole bean like a tripod or teepee and you should be able to fit a couple of those in.

if i planet blackeye peas and early singlow(corn). will they cross pollination?.

Blue - Do you mean if those are the only corn and peas you plant? Peas and corn don't cross with each other. Things only cross with members of their same family - beans with beans, corn with corn, etc.

Sinfonian, in 3 sister plantings I helped with in past years, we found it best to give the corn a two week head start and then put in the beans. Otherwise the beans were ready to climb and the corn was so tiny it got smothered. We were using scarlett runner beans. Half runner beans are often recommended, but I've not tried them.

I didn't know about the fertilizing issues. We didn't seem to have problems with that....but animals did give us trouble and could have masked some yield trouble. Knowing how the plot was run, I'd guess the corn received only a little fertilizer. It yielded okay til the raccoons found it :( It was blue Indian corn. Don't know if that needs less N or not.

lol. digdirt

Dapper, if you only have three 4X4' beds in which to plant these things, I would follow Digdirt's suggestion and segregate corn from beans. Now, I like growing beans on corn. But I have space to do a less intensive approach (more space between corn and bean plants and a lower yield per bean plant, than if it were grown on a pole or trellis). If I had just the space you describe and I wanted both corn and beans I'd approach things more intensively, growing my beans separately and using a trellis, and crowding my corn while applying nitrogen.

As I do corn and beans in my garden, I have the space to plant more "extensively," and I only dig in some compost at the time of planting the corn. I don't fertilize any further, except to mulch.

George
Tahlequah, OK