Kitchen Garden Forum

Has anyone used these runner bean seeds this year, I have had a horrible germination rate, either in modules or in the ground, with a lot of the bean seed just going to mush / rotting off, will have to go and buy some plants rather sharpish to get a crop this year.

Any other experiences with this variety or ideas to stop the rotting please

Compo[/i]

Dear Compo, i have found with Runner bean seed rotting, that it is nearly always down to the compost/soil getting too wet.

Hi Compo
My runner beans have been rubbish too this year. Less than 50% germination. French and borlottti fine but runners disaster.
Seedling

And I thought it was something I'd done! 50% with Red Flame, I thought it was because they were under the edge of the staging in the drip line and got too wet.
Does anybody know if runner seed is produced in this country or abroad like so many seeds? As they don't like warmer weather perhaps they are UK produced and the bad summer stopped them ripening properly?

Hi Compo.

I grow dwarf and climbing French beans, and always have problems with the seed rotting rather than germinating. I always start them off in deep pots, filled with a dryish mixture of peat and sand, into which I pop one seed per pot.
Last year I got fed up and wrapped the bean seeds in wet kitchen roll and popped them into a poly bag and placed the lot in the airing cupboard. This worked a treat, but still I had some seeds that turned to slime, the same thing occured this year, but it let me see sooner which seed was going to grow successfully, instead of wondering why there was no germination from certain pots!

I was at my plot yesterday, to check on my pea seeds sown earlier, I had full germination from the Oregon Sugar Pods, but patchy from Early Onward and Kelevedon Wonder seeds. I scraped some soil back to check and found thet they had turned to mush instead of germinating, so I will re sow again!

Cheers

Same here,

I thought it was us, but we have had a 50% germination rate too.

Mike

Me too, less than 50% of Emergo have germinated (in pots) and what has is very spindly. Sunset less 75% germinated.
I have re-sown with White Lady.

Beryl.

I'm growing Enorma and White Lady and they've all germinated just fine. I had them in pots in the greenhouse and they're now on racks outside where I have lost a couple to the squirrels, but otherwise, no problem.

Well sounds like a product of the heavy rain for the ones in the ground and over watering for the ones in pots, I always soak everything in the greenhouse as it is on staging, however, have just used some peat based compost which is very water retentive, hence the problem.....

Never mind have bought some plants from the garden centre, only three quid for thirty plants so not too bad in the end, trouble is I don't know what variety they are, will wait for a surprise.

Compo