Kitchen Garden Forum

Anyone know if white flowered varieties are harder / take longer to germinate?

Put white lady and czar in tubes in the propagator. czar have completely rotted - and didn't water at all after sowing. White lady had put down roots, so picked them out and replanted into new pot.

Have tried with fresh czar seed - but this time but in a freezer bag with moist compost and put in the airing cupboard for 2 days to try and trigger germination, before putting into loo tubes again.

Any tips - for an easy crop - I had no beans last year as planted too late. This year is not looking good from a germination rate...I'm destined to have no beans...I thought they were meant to be an easy crop ha

I have also had difficulty germinating Moonlight, which is a white flowered variety. The first attempt in roottrainers gave 1 out of 16 compared with about 7 out of 16 Enorma (last years seed). So I set up up a load of Moonlight and the remaining Enorma on wet tissue indoors and have managed to get sufficient from that, but still not the sort of germination rate I would expect.

Moonlight is the new one isn't it too. You should tell them your findings - all very well setting in cool summers blah blah - but if you can't get the seed to germinate in the first place...

I think you have been too hasty in sowing. French Beans and Runners to tend to rot if sown too early. I think late May is soon enough. They will germinate quickly then and you should get 99.9% germination.

Beryl.

Thanks Beryl - just i left it too late last year (June 6 for Runners) and didn't get any beans - tho lots of dwarf french (first time for climbing french beans) - have some just through now, and some more in a freezer bag covered with moist compost in the airing cupboard...so fingers crossed.

But you think I could hold off till end of may for climbing french beans?? or use propagator?

Yes, you can sow either up to end of June. Both will go on until there is a frost. In fact Runner are perennials and there has been winters when I have left the roots in and they have come up again the next year.

Beryl.