Kitchen Garden Forum

This year I'm growing two varieties of climbing French beans side by side - Cherokee Trail of Tears and Puma. Cherokee ToT have been the strongest growers from the start, but Puma are going to be the first to crop because they've got flowers much lower down the stem. (And when I say 'will be the first to crop' I mean that the first are almost ready to pick.)

Whoops - did I say Puma? I meant Cobra. Puma, which I also grow is a different animal altogether, it's a summer cabbage...

Hi Ken,
Lets hope the Puma doesn't bloom then

Cobra is a mainstay of my bean crop,you'll get fed up with them in the end Ken! It will be 'Oh no,not french beans again'! They are a fantastic cropper.I'm growing Cher.TOT.for the first time as well and they look good at the moment.

I'm also growing Cherokee TOT as a wigwam (very apt ) in one large tub and Blue Lake in another one. I love the colours of the flowers - such a nice change from the red of runner beans. Both varieties have lots of flowers and Blue Lake is winning so far as there will be a small harvest by the week-end. Cherokee have lots of tiny beans on the plants so they will probably catch up quite soon.

I've had to anchor both tubs to a wall as they were blown over by the wind on Sunday night - luckily no damage .

i tried ctot several years ago , i found it didnt grow or crop aswell as bluelake.

I'll report back on my results.

Hi Richard,
Last year I was given 6 CTOT by Molly (where is she BTW) and the amount of beans that came off just 6 plants was incredible so I think you must have been just unlucky when you grew them. May I suggest that you try them again. I find that Diamant produces even more beans than Cobra. I dispensed with Blue Lake years ago as I found them to be inconsistent in their growing habit and have a tendency to coarseness
even on the first picking when beans the same age were good to eat others were awful. (my opinion only)
I grow Cobra, Diamant, CTOT and Cosse Violette and they are all good.(again my opinion)
I grow two crops, including my normal Runners, of each and extend the season by putting a polythene awning over them as a frost protection as we, at 500ft, get frosts as early as the last week in August. I actually had the last picking of Runners in the first week of November last year.

I`m growing beans for the first time(cobra),how big are they when ready to pick?

They're ready when you are!
One of the luxuries of growing your own, you choose when you want to pick and eat, and that could be from when they're young - the length of your little finger - to longer a few days later. Try a few experiments, you might be surprised by how different the same crop tastes at different stages. Just don't let the bumps show - that means they're starting to grow beans, rather than pod, so they won't be as tender as the young 'uns.

Thankyou Sprout,guess what we`re having for tea tonight..

Hope they went down well!

My Cobra must have gone in late as the plants are only around 2-3 feet up the canes, but there are full sized beans at the bottom of the plants already. Picked the first lot today!

CTOT sounds like one to try.