Certified BLACK BEAN Seed..............
Zorro, Zenith and Black Pearl are upright black dry bean varieties from Michigan State University. Zorro, Zenith and Black Pearl are high-yielding, midseason-maturing varieties with an upright, short-vine growth habit and excellent canning quality. Zenith is resistant to all strains of bean anthracnose (except Race 109), rust and bean common mosaic virus in Michigan and is partially resistant to common bacterial blight. Zenith most closely resembles Jaguar in plant appearance but is more vigorous and higher yielding and has good canning quality and enhanced disease resistance to common bacterial blight.
Black Pearl has extraordinary canning quality and is similar to Zenith in plant architecture and yield.
Agronomic Information:
• High-yielding, upright black bean variety with resistance to lodging.
• Erect, short-vine growth habit suitable for direct harvest.
• Matures in 95 days, four days earlier than Shania and Black Velvet.
• Uniform maturity and excellent dry-down.
• Similar in seed size and shape to T-39.
• Good canning quality and color retention after cooking.
• Better resistance to lodging (<2) than T-39 .
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Plants average 21 inches in height.
Quality Characteristics:
Zorro, Zenith and Black Pearl have a typical small, opaque black bean seed averaging about 1850 to 2000 seeds per pound.
The seed is equivalent to T-39 in size, shape and color.
Pricing:
Michigan Certified Zorro and Zenith Black Bean Seed is available from Schmidt Farms of Auburn LLC for 2025 planting. All seed is precision processed and treated with Cruiser Maxx®. Seed is currently priced at $55.00 per 100K seed count unit.
Western grown certified Black Pearl black bean seed is also available for 2025 planting. Western seed is priced at $80.00 per 100K seed count unit. Western seed is treated with Maxum, Apron, Vibrance and Rancona.