Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi all

I saw it wriiten that I should start peas and broad beans in the greenhouse. I did that last month and they are now up a few inches.

My question is should I now be planting them out in the ghouse beds for an early crop or hardening them for outside planting later?

I just dont know if they will grow on in ghouse conditions or if the extra warmth will prevent that in some way.

Thanks for your help.

David

Put them out during the day for a few days, David, then probably overnight, if the weather is clement, then gradually leave them out altogether before planting them. If it's not warmed up a bit outside, you might still have to protect them with a cloche or fleece initially.

The main thing is to acclimatise them gradually from the sheltered greenhouse to the great outdoors!

I usually do the same as Monika, but also plant a few mangetout peas either in the greenhouse border or a big pot and get a nice early crop. They do very well inside. I wouldn't bother growing the broad beans on inside as they are quite tough and will do better outside. There isn't usually enough space in the greenhouse anyway for things that are just as happy outside.

i would do both, my first sowing of broadbeans is now 4 inches high they will go into the tunnel boarder for a first crop , the second larger sowing isnt up yet, but they will be going outside to crop later. i do the same with peas a first sowing is grown on in the tunnel and later ones planted outside. did the same with dwarf french beans last year which also worked well.

Thankyou all for your advice. Richard my ghouse is 10X8 so a lot smaller than a tunnel I think and glass of course. Do you think the crops will be succesful in what I think might be a hotter environment.

Ive never even been in a tunnel so have no idea what conditions are like.

Thanks again

my thermometer in the tunnels only goes to 50 c .. not enough on a sunny day .. dampness and temp are really down to the user, how much water you chuck in and how well you ventilate. the quality of the light is different between glass and plastic , ive even heard people say that you cant grow tomatoes in a tunnel cos the plastic doesnt let enough light through. all i can say is ive got a couple of tunnels next door has three greenhouses, we grow the same sort of crops and neither appears to be consistantly earlier or better than the other. it really boils down to bigger is better and tunnels are cheaper per square foot.

cheers