Bean crossing

[NYTomatoNewbie]

If two bean varieties cross, the bean see will look like the mother bean until the next generation, is that correct?

Do beans cross easily?

[pepperhead212]

I have always heard that they don't cross easily, though I couldn't tell you why!

[worth1]

I'm not sure about that.
You would think the seed would change like it does with corn.
I might be totally wrong about everything too.

[NYTomatoNewbie]

The reason I ask is because I am trying to save seeds. Some beans come out large, and some seeds come out a third of the size, but are the same color. They are growing next to each other, or possibly on the same plant. The vibes are too intertangled.

I also have some seeds that are dark in color and some seeds light in color of same variety.

I also have seeds that look like a mix of two seeds.

Not sure what I can save and what I should toss. I will take photos as examples.

[NYTomatoNewbie]

For the first set, some are bigger, some smaller. The smaller beans have a grayish color.

For the blue bean - the color of the seed planted was dark. I got dark and light colors.

For the pinto bean, some of them have a pinkish hue.

I didn’t have the foresight to ale photos of some of the beans before I planted, and I didn’t pay attention to the bean pods while growing because these are dry beans. I ignored the pods until dry on vine.

[rxkeith]

cross pollination can occur with beans, and it has with some of my own beans.
the first generation of crossed seed will be the color of the mother bean. the second
generation is when you will see the color change in the seed coat.
i had some uncle steve beans cross with grandma gina one year. i realized it when some
of my uncle steve seeds which are normally buff or light tan with purple whorls turned out
to be almost black, the color of grandma gina seeds. the cross has created some excellent
tasting beans for the most part, and one type that is getting rouged out due to poor quality.

similarly, i have a handful of what was jumbo bush bean seeds that crossed. some seeds look like
provider plus some multi colored seeds. the beans instead of being large flat romano beans came
out round.

save the seeds that are true to type if you are trading seeds. the seeds that are a different color or
size, i would test grow a few and see what you get. i would suspect that seeds that are a different
color from the parent seed could be a cross. you should be able to tell by what the resulting bean looks like.
sometimes seeds could be a lighter color if they aren't fully mature, so a color difference may not indicate
a cross. if you indeed have some crossed seeds, and the bean has some good qualities, you can grow out the
cross about five generations, and stabilize a new variety.

keith

[NYTomatoNewbie]

Thank you everyone for your time and help!