This year I lost the beans and squash in my 3 sisters gardens.
The corn, a dent variety, shrugged off the neglect and drought and thrived.
I'm looking for drought resistant legumes to match the resilience of the corn.
Right now lentils seem like a winner , or cowpeas if I want them to climb.
Both are cheap and available.
Any suggestions?
If you dry farm the 3 sisters, what bean do you use?
If it was the three sister patch that you showed in Thom's thread, I believe there was sign of potassium deficiency from the look of corn leaves. Potassium is required for the regulation of stomata so plants lacking K will be more susceptible to drought. Maybe the corns survived because they had deeper and larger root systems to aquire enough water. If you are going to grow in the same plot next year, adding some wood ash would help.
I plant Mississippi Pink Eye Purple Hull Peas with my corn. I have had drought the last two Summers and these peas weren't affected.They climb a bit but not enough to pull down the corn. I get two pickings before the corn is mature. When the corn is done I will chop it down and cut the peas off at about eight inches height. I leave the corn stalks and pea plants for mulch. The peas will grow back for another harvest! I learned this several years ago when I had cut corn stalks and peas and then It rained on and off for several weeks so that I couldn't remove them to compost them.
I don't grow the three sisters, but I do grow rattlesnake pole beans with only rain. They can climb upwards of ten feet tall. They are good as snap beans, shelly, and dry beans. The one time I tried them with corn, it was quickly overwhelmed and shaded out. So a purpose built trellis works best.
pigeon peas! they take a while to get started but when they do the plants get enormous (large bush, no vines) and can be super prolific, they prefer to be left alone and none of the pests here even look at them. Also you can eat the beans fresh (green peas) as well as dried as a storage crop.
I'd plant a bunch of different varieties. Your location is Ohio, so drought isn't gonna happen every year. Something will grow.
What is your corn spacing? I find wide spacing of the corn makes a big difference for the companion crops.
Thanks for all the replies!
Thom has an excellent point, so I think I will plant a variety of bean varieties.
I even found some short season pigeon peas that might produce something here in some 6.
My corn was ~6" on center rows with rows ~12" apart.
I will be adding wood ash and bone char to the plot.
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