Why Some Bean Seeds Rot In Ground?

11 years ago

I planted various beans and results vary quite a bit. Some of them, like the Blue Lake bush, Dragon Tongue, Chinese yard long, etc., came up very quickly, just in a couple of days. But some others have not had that much success. I planted Snow Cap twice, in ground and in seed starter tray, all rotten in the ground. I planted some Envy edamame and none of them came up. I asked the person from whom I received the above beans and she said all her beans sprouted well.

So what could have gone wrong? The beds or trays are moist, but not too wet. The soil/media is of good quality.

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Comments (8)

mav72
11 years ago
I've had beans rot in soil when the weather wasnt warm enough...

I have found that beans better adapt to your area and come up quicker, if you grow the saved seed every year.
RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)
Original Author
11 years ago
This is late June. Weather is already warm enough. I planted the Blue Lake over 6 weeks and most of them come up well, though not 100%.
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drloyd
11 years ago
If the average soil temperature at the time of planting is less than 65 F, many varieties of beans will not make it.
RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)
Original Author
11 years ago
Thx. I already said that both indoor and outdoor temps are higher than 65F.
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
11 years ago
Do a test germination in damp paper towel enclosed in a zip lock baggie, could be the seed was not viable. Too old, had not been stored in the best of conditions? I had a couple of varieties that wouldn't germinate this year and this is what I put it down to.
Annette
happydog
11 years ago
I planted several varieties that didn't come up. When I went back and looked at the seed packets I saw that all the ones that didn't come up were from 2010 and 2011. I thought beans lasted longer than that, but nope, they don't. In 2010 I saved a lot of seed, but by this year none of it was viable. Lesson learned. I need to upgrade my seed storage.
RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)
Original Author
11 years ago
The beans I have are not old. The person who gave me the edamame had no problem starting her seeds. Also I planted several 10 years old hyacinth beans and I got 6 sprouted out of 8 seeds.
zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
11 years ago
To me, the fact that the seeds were started both direct seeded & as transplants diminishes the possibility of weather or soil conditions being responsible. But keep in mind, 65 degrees is not the optimal germination temperature... 70-80 would be better, and some varieties are better adapted to cool soil than others.

It also may be that seed handling or storage might have damaged the seed prior to planting. If the seed was mailed during cold weather, it could have been damaged in transit, or by the package being opened while still cold. The same could apply if the seed spent any time in a hot mail box. Storage could also be an issue, but if other seeds stored in the same place had no problems, that seems unlikely.

Were the seeds soaked prior to planting? If so, and if both direct seeded & indoor starts were soaked, that could be a cause for failure. A pathogen present on any one seed could infect the rest... I have read several accounts of that this year.

I agree with the recommendation for germination testing, it would eliminate a lot of possibilities... and maybe prevent you from wasting more time on bad seed. My suspicion is that the seeds were damaged between the time they left your source, and the time they were planted.