I grew BC winged bean last summer. For me, it wasn't very prolific. Think I harvested two beans from several plants though I ended up getting sick at the end of the summer and wasn't able to spend much time gardening. I'll give it one more try this summer.

Thats a bummer your winged bean did not produce much or you could not get the late season harvest @cindy-6b/7a VA. I hope you are doing great now. I am posting three YT videos that were very educational for me and certainly inspirational. They might help in some way. Forgive me if you have seen these already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOmAR_pOKXI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cABQcolFB98

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEFsQtxzx2M

I am definitely growing these this season. At least I will get to try the leaves.

I will post another video on how to germinate these beans because I have heard they can be hard to germinate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao_Hpmn73LE

My two efforts to grow winged bean here were failures - even with the supposedly day-neutral wing bean sold by Baker Creek. After a slow start, I had vigorous vines; but flowering was still too late in the season for me to get more than 2 weeks of young pods. Mature seed was out of the question. :-( The flowers are very attractive, closely resembling cowpeas in shape, size, and habit... the flowers on mine were a beautiful sky blue.

I have to confess, I was a little put off by the flavor of the pods, which was strong & almost perfume-like. The variety I grew also started becoming fibrous at a small size. The cultivar grown by AG2T looks like the product of more advanced breeding, I may try that next one next year.

@zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin So sad you did not like the flavor. That does not bode well for me. I did not see winged bean on AG2T last time I looked.

Oh! You are The Sleuth @zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin! It certainly is there. You know what I did? After I read your comment that AG2T's Winged Bean may be more desirable I emailed to ask if she will be having Winged Bean seeds this season? Almost immediately I got a reply that winged bean will not grow in my New York area. She has been getting too many customers complaining that winged beans will not grow for them so she will not be selling them anymore.

Now, I dont know if this is because she is reserving what she has for her Chinese customers or she does not have any day length neutral seeds anymore. What do you make of this?

I did a Google translate of the page and there are two types of seeds available. 'purple brown species' and 'white flowered yellow'. I think I read or heard somewhere that the yellow seeded type is day neutral. I might be getting that backwards.

???

There is an Aussie website selling a day neutral cultivar called 'Emerald Star'.

https://www.boondieseeds.com.au/products/bean-winged-goa-bean-asparagus-pea

Now, AG2T shows out of stock for the winged bean seeds. In the last 15 mins.

Actually says which type of seed is for the north.

I was never able to determine, from my limited experimentation, whether there are any "day neutral" winged beans that will grow in the North. Day neutrality does not automatically equal short DTM. Winged beans may just require a longer growing season than we have, irrespective of latitude. I do find it odd though, that the winged beans were the only seed advertised on the site exclusively in Chinese.

The comment you received from the company re: the variety being unsuitable gives me pause. On the one hand, I'm glad that you contacted them, and that the company provided a quick, honest answer. On the other hand, this just renews my concern that some of their varieties may be suitable for Florida & the sub-tropics - but not for points further North. I fully expect that to be the case for the 2 hyacinth beans I'll be testing, on the off chance that one of them might actually succeed here... you never know until you try.

Fortunately their seed prices are reasonable enough that I won't fret if a few of their varieties fail here... I love to experiment, and will be quite happy if I only find 1-2 new "keepers". But for someone who pins their hopes on a single variety, that could be disappointing. I will know more after this year's trials, and make a point of providing feedback to AG2T. Regardless, I am very impressed with both their seed efforts, and their highly educational videos, and fully support what they are accomplishing. I really hope that rather than dropping something which is not Northern adapted, that they just update their product descriptions & continue to offer those varieties, for the sake of those customers blessed with warmer climates.

@zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin

I have some hope that the Japanese Urizun winged bean will work for me although, now, I am afraid to say it. On the Baker Creek website there are a few very happy reviewers from cold climates, zones 4A and 5A, for whom these beans grew and produced. I have nothing to lose, only to gain. Even if I get to taste the leaves its fun for me. Actually just to see the plant grow is a win for me.

I was eyeing the hyacinth beans too, specially the green early one. I have so many seeds and plants now that I wont enjoy it if I add more to my plate. Looking forward to hearing how they grow for you. I could have sworn I read somewhere there is a day light neutral purple Hyacinth bean but I dont remember where. Next year.

There is a lot to respect there at AG2T.

"Even if I get to taste the leaves its fun for me. Actually just to see the plant grow is a win for me."

It will be a win if you get to see the vines in bloom. The flowers are beautiful - and edible. If I ever try winged beans again, I'll focus on making a flower salad, and consider it a blessing if I actually get pods.

My observation when I grew winged beans was that they were very sensitive to cold; even brief cool spells caused some leaf yellowing. If you grow them @katyajini, I would recommend planting them through black agricultural plastic, much as you would when growing sweet potatoes in moderate Northern climates.

@zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin gonna love tasting those flowers.

Do you sale seeds of winged beans

This is my first year growing them. A friend of mine gave me seeds from Bakers Creek last year. I had no idea what it was, never had it, never heard of it til then. I started seeds in February, they took forever to germinate. Not all germinated, some rotted. I have 7 seedlings going in my garden right now. With the strong wind we get so often here, they're not growing much, they spend their energy stay up and not get blown away I guess. Hope I'll get some to eat this season!

They do climb & need strong support. I grew them on a 6' trellis, and they covered it. Slow to start initially though, and they REALLY don't like cool conditions. Looks like Dallas weather is OK now.

I started a thread on germinating winged bean seeds.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6271793/germinating-winged-bean-seeds#n=0

@NewTXGardener (8a Dallas) how are winged beans doing?

Mine are still battling the wind and not growing much. Most of my veggies are not doing well this year, not sure why...