Pa Snip Enterprise, Twixt devil and the deep blue sea

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Pa Snip
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Location: Near the big house on the hill Berkshire

I had erected canes for 28 'St George' runner bean, and another 28 canes for a later sowing of variety 'Firestorm' >

Took a chance and only sowed 36 St George in modular trays, by luck 28 of the 36 germinated. However they have lived up to their name of Runners and took off and it soon became time to move them out of the greenhouse.
Runners in trays or pots soon start entwining themselves around each other so this morning I asked myself the devil or deep blue sea question>

Should I risk planting them out on the plot already.

Decided in favour of Yes but with protection.

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The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Monika
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You may of course be ok without any more frost in the 'deep south', Pa Snip, and I do like your shelters! We grow a lot of sweet peas on the very windy allotment and I plant them out in April (because they are hardy, of course) but always surround them with a very similar shelter made from double fleece just to keep the wind off. That fleece comes off about now and they have always benefitted from that. I am sure your runners will be thriving.
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Primrose
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That is very elaborate protection Pa but hopefully will harden them off and keep them protected. I find it's the wind which really blasts climbing beans rather than windless lower temperatures for short periods and of course open allotments make them more vulnerable. I've had a few climbing beans outdoors for a couple of weeks now and they seem to be surviving but they're up against a south facing 6 foot fence which makes a good windbreak.

It seems to me that no matter how long you've been growing vegetables like beans and tomatoes which need hardening off and planting out, you can rarely get the timing completely right because some years, according to germination rates and temperatures you' find yourself ahead of where you want to be or behind and struggling to catch up. You can sow on the same date every year and yet end up with widely different planting out dates. You can never really garden completely to the calendar, can you?

I sowed three mini crunch cucumber plants this year. Two of the seedlings are about a foot high and planted outdoors under cloches. The third seed (all from the same packet) just dormant in its compost and has only just sprung into life. (I thought it had probably rotted). It's a seedling which is just one inch tall !
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Westi
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Hi Pa!
That decision always happens to me too! Running out of room in the greenhouse or back bedroom but the plants say now! I've still got surrounds on my runners as well & will keep them in place for a bit more time. This welcomed rain has come with quite a breeze at times, so they need a bit of protection even if Southern Softies! :)
Westi
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Johnboy
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I started pre-germinating my Wisley Magic runner beans last Sunday motning and planted ito 9cm full pots on Thursday with some descent radicles showing. I do not want them ready for planting out until the end of the first week in June. We suffer from late frost in this neck of the woods and our window of growing is decidedly shorter than those of you who live in the south. Having said this I had some wonderful crops last year and for the first time ever there were quite a few beans hiding in the foliage that the frost didn't get and for the first time ever I had a feed of runners in the second week of December! The frosts begin here again at the end of August or even sooner so to pick when I did was not far short of a miracle.
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Pa Snip
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There is still a risk of late frost in our area, it has been known.
On our site the bigger risk at this time is from wind burn knocking young pants back and that is more what I am trying to protect plants from.

It really does whistle across our site if it is a easterly or westerly wind.
Having the open grass runways airfield next to us is open ground.

BTW, the white covering is over the peas. Most of which have been sown direct.

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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PLUMPUDDING
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What's the green stuff you are using Pa? It looks quite substantial. You've jogged my memory too to buy more long garden canes. I bought a pack of 100 x 8ft canes ages ago from Kays before they packed up and I'm down to the last half dozen that are still use able. I've bought quite a few of the plastic coated metal ones in assorted sizes, but I do like the bamboo. It's lighter and nice to tie together to make frames and structures, and a lot cheaper.
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Pa Snip
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PP
The green covering is Gardman Heavy Duty Fleece. Got it from Wyevale. Probably available on the net cheaper. I paid £6.99 per roll.
It is 10mt x 1mt.

Its is strong, but being a heavier grade than normal white fleece I have noticed water does not pass through it easily so in some instances I have to move it for watering. The beans can be watered from the top without moving the covers.

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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PLUMPUDDING
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I'm on the verge of planting the beans sweetcorn and squashes out but think I'll hang on a few more days. We've had a few chilly nights and don't want to lose them now. I planted them out fairly early last year when we had a warm spell and then it turned cold and dull and they just sulked for a month. At least they produced a good crop very late on.
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Johnboy
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Hi PP,
What I can't understand is that you live considerably further north than me but I get frosts right through May and try and get my beans ready to plant out at the end of the first week in June. Do you live in a protected area which somehow misses the frosts?
JB.
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Shallot Man
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Pa Snip. Took a gamble and put my runner beans out last Sat. Though I have pinched the middles out.
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PLUMPUDDING
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We live in a valley, Johnboy, and get some very keen frosts up to the end of May, but I do take a gamble in the last week or two if it seems mild and settled. Got lots of fleece handy in case I get caught out. I remember Dad rushing outside to water the frost off his runner beans when he'd risked putting them out a week early.
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tigerburnie
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I have all my crops outside, French beans for a week or two and we can get snow in august, just say a little prayer to the Greenman and hope nature protects my garden lol.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
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Monika
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My dwarf beans are going out this weekend but I will cover them with fleece for another 10 days or so. We have had frost as late as 9th June (and the same year the first frost was on 31 August, so only July was frost-free!). I do wish though we could get some rain. 20mm in April, 18mm so far in May and none forecast.
We spent all this morning just watering the absolutely essentials like broad beans, peas, celeriac etc. There is a strong and very warm wind which doesn't help.
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Geoff
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I cracked and planted out my Runners today. They had started to run and there is nothing nasty forecast to the end of the month. Not much to see with their fleece jacket.

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