Hi Bradley,

Welcome to the Oklahoma Gardening Forum. I am sure you're going to fit into this group quite well. I love your enthusiasm.

It sounds like your spring 2010 garden is off to a great start with perhaps one exception. It's time for BEANS 101: Introduction to Growing Beans.

You mentioned that you have green beans planted in the second bed. FYI, green beans are not a cool-season crop and will freeze if exposed to freezing temperatures. You likely will have freezing or near-freezing temperatures in the OKC area this weekend. If your seeds are still in the ground, they should survive the brief period of cold weather. If the plants have sprouted and are above-ground, they need to be covered up with some sort of textile or 5 gallon buckets to keep the cold air and any possible frost off of them.

For future reference, make a note to yourself that the recommended planting dates for green beans in Oklahoma are from April 10-30, although you can plant succession crops later than that and still get a good crop most summers. You also can plant beans in mid-summer for a fall harvest. In general, only a tiny percentage of beans planted in 30 degree soil germinate.

Beans are temperature-sensitive, as are most warm-season crops (obviously). Most bean seeds planted in soil where the planting depth is 59 degrees or colder will germinate very slowly and very sporadically if they germinate at all. Lima beans are a little bit more cold-sensitive and do best if they are not planted until the soil at planting depth is at least 65 degrees.

Since you've already planted your bean seeds, there's no use crying over spilt milk, so just cross your fingers and hope for the best. Since your beds are raised quite a bit above grade level, the soil in them may warm up a little more than soil at grade level, but I'd be a bit surprised if the soil is already 60 degrees. My soil in my beds is only in the low to mid-50s and I'm in far southern OK.

Bean seed that is planted in cold soil is vulnerable to a wide variety of soilborne fungal diseases that cause seeds to rot or that cause damping off, which generally kills them, after they emerge....if they emerge at all.

If you just planted your beans in the last couple of days, and they sail through this coming cold spell over the weekend, there may be a chance the seeds will survive and sprout and grow if the weather warms up quickly after the weekend cold front passes. You'll still have to cover them up any time temps are dropping into the 30s. Also,you should be aware that when the conditions are right (low to no wind, a clear, cloudless night and, especially, these conditions plus a full moon) and enough humidity in the air, frost can form at 37 or 38 degrees, and even at 39 degrees. So, when temps are near 40 or lower, cover up the bean plants.

An additional problem with beans planted early is that the plants often remain stunted and produce poorly if at all, even after warm temperatures arrive.

If you've already mulched the bean area of the bed to keep weeds from sprouting, it would be a good idea to pull back the mulch and let the sunshine hit the soil directly because that will warm up the soil a little more.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but beans put into the ground this early rarely survive and seldom thrive and it is better for you to know that up front. And, it isn't just new gardeners who plant beans too early. I have a dear 'old farmer' friend here in our neighborhood who is in his late 80s. He loves to farm, garden and ranch SO much that he tends to plant his beans too early and lose them probably 8 or 9 years out of 10. He just can't help himself, and he's been farming and ranching all his life. Believe me, I understand the urge to plant early. I'm dying to plant my beans but haven't because it is too early.

Now that I've dumped the 'bad bean news' on you, can we still be friends? : )

Dawn

Bradley- do yourself a big favor and tell Dawn you will still be her friend. Dawn is the best source of information on gardens that you will ever find....bar none. She is right on the beans - but we all have to learn the hard way. My daddy used to say "we plant two gardens around here - one to freeze and one to grow". If all you lose is a few beans count yourself for a good start - sounds like all your other choices were right on. We all get the urge to start a little early - I'm fighting it right now....welcome to our group.

Bradley,

Oops, in the fourth paragraph, I said "30 degree soil" and it should be "50 degree soil". In 30 degree soil bean germination is 0%.

Farmgardener, Hi! How are you doing? Thanks for telling Bradley not to shoot the messenger and thank you for your very kind words. I don't think I know nearly as much as you give me credit for knowing and I also feel like there are lots of folks here who know as much about gardening as I do or more about gardening than I do. That's why it works...because everyone shares their knowledge and between all of us, we have a lot of the whole gardening thing figured out.

OK, back out to the garden to pull some weeds from my pathways....the sun has chased the clouds away and it is practically hot out there.

Dawn

Thanks for all the advice Dawn. I planted them on mon. So here goes for high hopes! I'm here to learn so lay it on me!

All of the box #2 were planted from seed, so should i go ahead and cover it? I also just planted the shallots and garlic; do you think those will produce well? I read that garlic really needs a long cold period.

And thank you so much for your wealth of knowledge Dawn.
Bradley

Hi Bradley! and Welcome! You've had the good fortune of finding the BEST place for advice on gardening here in Oklahoma. I'm a newbie myself. Just joined a year ago...simply because all my "google searches" brought me right back here. This is "where it's at"!

and yes, cover them!!! If you protect them, they should make it thru our last few cold spells and you just might have the first harvests out of any of us! That means they're going to take a lot of time and attention...covering and uncovering...but it's all part of the experience. Stick around here...I promise,next year you won't suffer these pains!

Paula

Good morning, Bradley,

I second Paula's recommendation that you cover the bed, and if nothing is sprouting above the soil surface, I'd cover it with something heavy like an old comforter or blanket if you have one. While something that heavy could break and kill new plants, if there are no plants up yet and only seeds in the ground, the heavy cover will help hold in the heat.

And, as for that 'wealth of knowledge', I'd just like to say that much of it was learned the hard way...by doing everything wrong and then having to figure out what went wrong and what I could do to prevent a repeat. So, expect to make 'mistakes' and expect them to be great teachers. One of the amazing things about gardening (just like life) is that you never stop learning. I still learn something new about gardening every single day!

Hi Paula,

Has it only been a year? Wow. It seems like you've been here 'forever', and I mean that in a good way!

I think we have a wonderful forum here because so many people have expertise in so many different areas. You couldn't buy a book about gardening that could offer you such a broad level of hands-on knowledge from folks who've gardened in our climate.

Dawn

Hi Paula,
Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm very glad to be part of this community. I am rather young and so I dont have many like minded friends with experience in gardening to discuss things with. And thanks for the quick answer. I will cover it today after work!
Good Morning Dawn,
That sounds like a great idea! Nothing has come up yet so I will look for a comforter today.
Hope you all have a great day.
Bradley

Bradley,

If you don't have an old comforter sitting around the house, stop by a thrift store if there's one somewhere close to you. Old comforters, blankets, curtains, tablecloths and sheer curtain panels make great plant protectors.

I hope you have a great day too.

I am seeing more and more young gardeners like you. A lot of them post videos of things they're doing on YouTube, or so I've been told.

I was a young gardener too. Helped my daddy and other relatives and neighbors (including one who had a greenhouse) from the time I was old enough to walk. In high school, I was president of our school's gardening club, probably because no one else in the club was actually a gardener. LOL

Gardening is hot, hot, hot these days, so keep doing it and you'll likely meet some other folks your age who are gardeners too. Then, in a decade or two or three, y'all will be the old fogeys.

Old gardeners never die....they just spade away. (old joke)

Dawn

Bradley,

If your beans don't come up, just tell everyone you had spring fever. I'm one of those 'old' gardeners, and I have to replant sometimes because I am over zealous in getting my garden in. Last year, it was my squash and melons. I say the seeds were washed away in one of the spring floods, but I really planted too early. All of us gardeners can excuse wanting spring to come earlier rather than later.

Welcome,

Marcy