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Burlington, IA | I doubt that I can convince you, but I'll try to explain. We use a scale of 1 to 3 when scoring a bean for plant type. 1 represents a narrow plant type with minimal lateral branching (0-1 pod bearing lateral branches per plant). 3 represents a bushy plant type with extensive lateral branching (4-5 pod bearing lateral branches per plant). Obviously, a 2 will be in the middle, or a medium bush. This is just me, but I don't feel a plant has to score a perfect 3 to be considered a bush type bean, I consider anything around 2.5 or higher as a bushy bean, and the closer it gets to 3, the bushier it is. In the RR beans I work with, there are a number of beans that score 2.4-2.5 or higher. Even more so in the LL beans, close to half of them score that, or higher. In conventionals, only 2, but that will change.
I don't imagine it's been any help, but that's the criteria, and my rationale, for my statement above. In reviewing our beans, I don't find any that score a perfect 3, but I do find a good number that score 2.5 to 2.7. So, I guess it's all relative. If a person is a purist, and wants the perfect 3, then yes, there are few at this point. But a 2.5 to 2.7 is awful darn close. Population and environment will also have some effect on how much a bean will bush, as I'm sure you already know. And not that long ago, there were a lot of thinner line beans out there, but the pendulum has been swinging back towards medium bush to bush type beans for several years now.
But what do I know? Just one man's opinion.
My .02.
JDH | |
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Bushy beans?
