The case of the delayed pole bean harvest
Plus: How to care for bonsai trees
Hi, guys!
Yesterday, I sowed beet and parsley seeds in gallon-sized milk jug containers and set them outside in 32-degree weather. They’ll be fine out there (even under the 6.8 inches of snow predicted for tonight) and will likely grow stronger than the seedlings I’ll start indoors next month.
Cool-season plants, like my beets and parsley, are best suited for winter sowing, whereas the tender sprouts of those that require more heat, like tomatoes and zucchini, would likely succumb to the cold.
Moving my beet-and-parsley operation outdoors also frees up more counter space for those tender crops and my beloved Queen Lime Mix zinnias. Aren’t they beautiful?
My next AP gardening column, out Tuesday, will provide all the details and instructions you’ll need to winter sow your own plants. I’ll share it here next week.
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: My pole beans seem to be taking longer and longer to produce, despite planting the same type from seeds saved the year before and fertilizing every week. Last summer, I didn’t harvest until nearly September. Any ideas? — Carl Byrnes
DEAR CARL: Unless your garden’s conditions have changed (perhaps a tree has grown and is shading the bed more each year?), the likely culprit of your beans’ increasingly delayed maturity is your fertilizer routine.
Beans are nitrogen-fixing plants, which means they make their own nitrogen and add it to the soil, essentially fertilizing themselves and plants growing nearby. Applying additional nitrogen can slow and even stop bean production.
Here’s why:
Nitrogen is indicated by the first number in the three-digit ratio listed on the fertilizer package, typically 5-10-5 or 20-10-10, etc. The ratio of nutrients forces plants to spend their energy in specific ways. And with a finite amount of energy available, getting the formulation right is important.
Nitrogen stimulates plants to direct energy toward vegetative growth (growing leaves, shoots and stems), resulting in larger plants. Although large plants may seem preferable, that growth leaves less energy available for flower and/or fruit production.
The second number relates to the amount of phosphorus in the fertilizer. Phosphorus supports root development and flowering and helps plants transport energy within themselves.
Potassium, indicated by the last number in the trio, boosts the overall health of plants.
I fertilize my beans at planting time, then when the first pods begin to appear. Sometimes, I’ll add another dose or two later in the season, a couple of weeks apart, but only if the plant’s production slows down.
When buying fertilizer for your beans, look for one with a lower first number to reduce the amount of nitrogen supplied to your plants.
It’s important to point out that even if you weren’t fertilizing plants directly, nitrogen applied to a nearby lawn could also be leeching into planting beds. If any plants growing near fertilized grass are not producing or blooming as expected, consider moving them.
Got a gardening question? Ask it here.
👏 Sunday shoutout
Reader Maureen Eng of Neptune, NJ, shared this lovely photo of the happy-looking irises growing along her fence and facing the street and said she’s looking forward to the re-emergence in spring.
“I’m partial to iris, as it was one of the first plants I divided from my mother’s childhood friend’s garden,” she added.
Send in your photo, and you could be featured next (bonus points if you’re in the picture!)
💡 If you do one thing this week…
Clip forsythia, pussy willow or quince stems and place them in a vase of water indoors, where their blooms will provide an early taste of spring in a few weeks. Change the water daily.
📰This week in my Associated Press gardening column
I write a weekly gardening column for the AP, so you might have seen my byline in your local paper (or news website) — wherever in the world you happen to be. In case you miss it, I’ll post the most recent here every week.
THIS WEEK: How to grow and care for a bonsai tree
LAST WEEK: Is it too early to prep the garden for spring now? Nope! Here’s what you should be doing right now.
BEFORE THAT: Houseplants that don’t require soil and can be displayed any which way? Look to air plants
ONE MORE: Living fences. Leaves with holes. A lived-in vibe. And other likely garden trends for 2025
You can read all my AP gardening columns here.
📚📺🎵 Random things I enjoyed this week
🧾 I spent part of the week organizing for tax time. Wish me luck!
📺 I’ve been hooked on AppleTV+’s Dark Matter, about a man who gets abducted by another version of himself and sent to an alternate reality, then spends the rest of the series trying to get home to his wife and son, getting stuck in alternate universes along the way. It’s sort of like if Everything, Everywhere, All at Once met Doctor Who.
📺 I also can’t get enough of Severance. If you have a theory about the goats, please let me know!
🎵 I’ve been revisiting old LP music (the artist, not the vinyl) after a friend recently reminded me of them (family-friendly video warning: smoking, drinking and underwear make appearances).
Let’s be friends! Follow me:
@JesDamiano on Instagram
@jessicadamiano on Facebook
@jesdamiano on Threads
@jessicadamiano on BlueSky
📧 How’m I doing?
I welcome your comments and suggestions, so please send them along — as well as any topics you’d like to see covered and questions you’d like answered in the Ask Jessica section.