Rotten climbing french beans

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter

vivienz
KG Regular
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:55 pm
Location: Very north Dorset
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Boo hoo! several of my climbing french bean seeds have rotted in their pots. Probably entirely my own fault for keeping them too moist, so I shall start some more off between sheets of moist capillary matting and then plant them once they have germinated. Or is cotton wool better? Any preferences, anyone?
robo
KG Regular
Posts: 2808
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:22 pm
Location: st.helens
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 56 times

Why not plant them straight into the soil but I would leave it for a few weeks
User avatar
Primrose
KG Regular
Posts: 8053
Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:50 pm
Location: Bucks.
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 281 times

My first batch sown in toilet rolls all rotted which Sally Wright on here on a previous thread suggested was because the soggy cardboard encourages rotting and I. think she,s right. It,s too easy to over water beans to get t(me to germinate. I subsequently resowed in cells, soaking the compost, leaving for 24 hours, placing the beans on top and covering with dry compost which I just pressed down. I resisted watering, barely damping the surface of the compost after that and every bean germinated.
Westi
KG Regular
Posts: 5908
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:46 pm
Location: Christchurch, Dorset
Has thanked: 671 times
Been thanked: 238 times

Sow some in pots directly as it is warmer & they will want to grow without any soaking, then sow seed direct into alternative spots when you plant them out. It appears that they catch up, so what the point you ask? They do in foliage but the crop is slightly behind so you get a longer harvest period. Do you have an allotment vivienz or a nice sized garden?
Westi
vivienz
KG Regular
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:55 pm
Location: Very north Dorset
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Thanks for the replies, all, and my apologies for my super late one - I forgot where I put this post and have now found it again.

I had a go at germinating some more beans in moist kitchen towel in a plastic freezer bag and it worked a treat.

Westi - I have a nice sized garden at the moment but with no space for growing edibles other than in pots, but this situation will be changing shortly as I'm making a new kitchen garden in a field of a property that we will move to later in the year.
hilary
KG Regular
Posts: 212
Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 9:34 pm
Location: Beccles, Suffolk

Beware if making a veggie plot from a field! I have to sow all beans, etc in the greenhouse and then plant out on quite big and tougher. Voles and mice are a real menace..... Even chewing off at the stem!

Hilary
vivienz
KG Regular
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:55 pm
Location: Very north Dorset
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 8 times

I can well believe it, Hilary, as there are voracious things all over the new place. 2 of them are me and my husband and we really want to see the place getting nice and productive so I shall be following your advice. Thanks!
Westi
KG Regular
Posts: 5908
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:46 pm
Location: Christchurch, Dorset
Has thanked: 671 times
Been thanked: 238 times

Good Luck & great news Viv! Exciting! Can you fence the bit of the field you have?
Westi
vivienz
KG Regular
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:55 pm
Location: Very north Dorset
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Westi - it has a barbed wire fence all around it but we have planted native hedgerow plants around it as well to give a nice soft boundary. I doubt for an instant that it will keep out anything determined but we don't really want to keep the creatures out, either. Just off my edibles!
Westi
KG Regular
Posts: 5908
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:46 pm
Location: Christchurch, Dorset
Has thanked: 671 times
Been thanked: 238 times

Good job they have cloches, netting & mesh for these circumstances! Just protect the most valuable to you, accept the losses and each year you will find tricks & tips until you eat more than them! :)
Westi
Daveswife
KG Regular
Posts: 62
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:43 pm

We have been growing veg here in our garden since moving in 1981 and since day one any seeds we sow directly in the soil seem to disappear. It seems to be a common problem. Mice, slugs, something eats them. So we have to grow everything in containers and modules before planting out good sized plants. If you have to do this, you are not alone!!
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic