Starting From Seed - Jack Beans

These seeds were passed on to me by my father-in-law's girlfriend.  They are seeds from her Jack Bean vines in her back yard.  I am not familiar with these so I had to do a little research.

It carries the horticulture name of Canavalia ensiformis.  It's an American tropical vine that has clusters of purple flowers with long pods and beans that are edible.  The pods will reach a length of 10 to 14 inches, and a width of 1 to 1½ inches.  Wow!  Those are big pods!

I also read that the vines are grown for forage.  So, I'm assuming when they say the beans are edible, they are saying that cattle will like them.  Well, the plant seems interesting and I do love vines so I think I'll give these a try.

To see if the seeds are good I put them between two wet paper towels, zipped them in a baggie and put them on top of the refrigerator for a couple of days.

After about a week, this is what I had.

I made holes in the bottom of some soup cans with a nail, for drainage and planted the seedlings in seed starting mix.


We'll see how they progress.  I have several weeks before I will have to put them in the ground and decide how I will trellis them up.   Will share with you then how they are coming along!