I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF POLE LIMA BEANS SHOULD BE SOAKED BEFORE PLANTING?

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001

Answers

Hi Jane,

I was pretty sure that beans are not to be soaked or presprouted. I wanted to find a reference for you before I posted my reply. They are, in fact, one of the seeds that is very likely to be damaged by soaking.

Refer to this Oregon State University Web page:

http://eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/garden/seeds/warmcrop.html

Regards,

Mike

-- Anonymous, May 20, 2001

Mike,

You just hit the nail on the head in regards to soaking beans prior to planting. I soaked Bush Lima's prior to planting for about 2-3 hours and the germination rate was about 30%. Quite poor I would say. With the combination of store bought poor quality seeds and pre- soaking it is no wonder 2 paks of seeds yielded only 15 plants!. I learned my lesson. Looking forward to getting my lima's from you next Spring.

-- Anonymous, September 07, 2001

Is this true for all beans or just Lima's?

-- Anonymous, September 16, 2003

All beans (and corn too). Refer to:

http://eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/garden/seeds/warmcrop.html

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2003

fdgdg

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2004