Hidatsa Red Bush Dry Bean

Hidatsa Red seeds produce a hidatsa-associated bush dry bean. Plants have a compact bush habit. Plants typically reach 19–24 in. Seeds generally emerge in 7–14 Days at 65–80 °F. The first representative harvest is generally reached in 80-89 Days from direct sowing.

About Hidatsa Red

Hidatsa Red is sold as a bush dry bean selection. The principal color is red, and the harvest form is Dry seed selected for the named cultivar, market class, or maintained seed lot. Rich, earthy, and creamy when the dry beans are thoroughly cooked. Best uses include dry beans, soups, baking, stews, pantry storage, and seed saving. Other seed records may list it as Bean, Bean Seeds - Bush - Hidatsa Red Bean.

• Scientific name:Phaseolus vulgaris L.
• Life cycle:Annual
• Planting season:Late Spring
• Growth habit:Bush
• Plant height:19–24 in
• Sunlight:Full sun
• Seed depth:1 in
• Germination:7–14 Days at 65–80 °F
• Spacing:4 in between plants; 24 in between rows
• Soil:Loamy; pH 6.0–6.5
• Water:Moderate
• Support:No-Support
• Reproductive type:Open-Pollinated (OP)
• Harvest form:Dry seed selected for the named cultivar, market class, or maintained seed lot
• Maturity:80-89 Days

History and seedkeeping context

Hidatsa Red is associated with the agricultural traditions of the Hidatsa and the interrelated Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara communities of the northern Great Plains. Cornell records a red-seeded bush dry bean under the name Hidatsa Red, and Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College continues to sustain community language and culture. A commercial packet cannot stand in for every community-maintained population, however. The name is kept with respect, while the current seed lot is documented by its source, red seed, bush habit, and field performance. Continued stewardship of Hidatsa Red depends on keeping the original source, lot, year, growing location, isolation method, representative plant count, and harvest traits together. Those records help future seedkeepers distinguish the named variety from similar market classes while preserving both its useful traits and its documented history.

Why this variety is distinct

This is a dry bean for full-season seed maturity, not a green snap bean. Its red seed makes color selection straightforward, while occasional off-color seed should be recorded rather than silently discarded without understanding the lot. Seedkeeping is strongest when community association, supplier history, and observations from each grow-out remain attached to the seed.

Harvest and kitchen or field use

Allow pods and seed to dry fully before shelling, and harvest before repeated rain or shattering damages the lot. The crop is described as Dry seed selected for the named cultivar, market class, or maintained seed lot. Dry beans, soups, baking, stews, pantry storage, and seed saving. Rich, earthy, and creamy when the dry beans are thoroughly cooked. Cook mature dry seed thoroughly before eating.

How to grow Hidatsa Red

Direct sow 1 in deep during the late spring planting window. Keep the seed zone near 65–80 °F and evenly moist until emergence, normally 7–14 Days. Grow in full sun with loamy soil near pH 6.0–6.5. Space plants 4 in apart and rows 24 in apart. Keep the soil evenly moist through flowering and pod fill without leaving the root zone saturated. No trellis or staking is normally required, although low edging can keep heavily loaded plants off the soil. Plants typically reach 19–24 in.

Season care

• Wait for warm soil in the late spring planting window before sowing Hidatsa Red; cold wet ground delays emergence and encourages rot.
• Water consistently through flowering and pod fill, then reduce irrigation as dry-seed crops approach final cure.
• No trellis or staking is normally required, although low edging can keep heavily loaded plants off the soil.
• Allow pods and seed to dry fully before shelling, and harvest before repeated rain or shattering damages the lot. The crop is described as Dry seed selected for the named cultivar, market class, or maintained seed lot.
• Use 80-89 Days as the planning range, while allowing for shifts caused by weather, soil temperature, and plant stress.

Maturity and harvest timing

80-89 Days from direct sowing to the first dry-seed harvest under suitable conditions. Allow pods and seed to dry fully before shelling, and harvest before repeated rain or shattering damages the lot. The crop is described as Dry seed selected for the named cultivar, market class, or maintained seed lot.

Saving seed

The crop is largely self-pollinating, but occasional insect-carried crossing can occur among compatible varieties. Save from several healthy, true-to-type Hidatsa Red plants rather than one exceptional individual. Mark seed plants before the eating harvest, remove clear off-types before they contribute pollen, and let seed reach full biological maturity. Shell only fully dry pods, discard moldy or insect-damaged seed, and dry the cleaned seed again before storage. Label the lot with crop, variety, source, year, location, plant count, isolation method, and selection traits. Keep the original packet and lot history with the saved seed so later grow-outs can be compared without relying only on memory or seed color.

Common problems

Watch Hidatsa Red for bean beetles, aphids, leafhoppers, mites, pod-feeding insects, bacterial or fungal leaf spots, rust, mosaic symptoms, and root rots. Rotate away from legumes, avoid working wet foliage, water at the soil line, and remove badly diseased plants. Cold wet soil commonly causes poor emergence; excess nitrogen can create leafy growth with fewer pods. Save seed only from healthy representative plants.

Frequently asked questions