Topic: broad beans

[deadbird]

Having come to realization that broad beans are a staple ;and having very poor results or none with overwintering ;would like to know if other members have success by sowing now in pots first week of november and giving some shelter?

[sparrow]

Mine are already in the ground. They are tough things and most should make it through. You might need to net if birds are a problem where you are.

[Obelixx]

My winters can get really cold and see off winter hardy veggies like greens and broad beans so I sow my broad beans in March in toilet roll tubes and then plant them out when big enough.   They soon catch up with autumn sown plants and I get a good crop but maybe a couple of weeks later.

[goodlife]

I don't 'usually' sow any for overwintering at all...don't find overwintering that much benefit for early crops. Starting early in the season, and the plants will soon catch up those that are outside.
Saying that....last autumn I chucked all the dry husks away into borders...missed quite number of seeds and those happily germinated and  many survived to following year, but we did had mild winter. It was little added bonus, but didn't convince me going back to purposely sown winter plants.

[Digeroo]

They do not do well for me during the winter, normally start sowing Feb under bottles.  The a few every month till June.

I am trying some new varieties.  Luz de Otono, just sown them and Wizard.  Wizard is a field bean so hopefully will brave the winter.  Doing well until I take the bottles off something is eating the seeds and leaving the green stem behind.  I suspect vole, rats or squirrels.  May just be green manure.

[Mikeakabigman]

I sowed Aquadulce claudia on 9th Dec last year, they overwintered well, and I had a good crop of beans on healthy aphid free plants. I was certainly eating beans before anyone else on our site, all of whom planted early in the year. Having said that, we  did have a very mild winter.

[deadbird]

Am heartened that some of replies reflected my own experiences,beans not surviving snow on exposed clay site in Surrey-- will aim to sow in February --thank you

[laurieuk]

I sow broad bean Aquadulce in October and usually get a good early crop, I do not protect against the weather but have to watch for mice.

[Silverleaf]

This is the first time I've grown broad beans. I planted up half the space last week, and will do the rest in March so I can compare them.

I have Bunyard's Exhibition (from Wilko's sale) and some lovely smaller cold-tolerant landrace beans I got from a guy in France. I'll be interested to see how they do!

[kGarden]

Am heartened that some of replies reflected my own experiences,beans not surviving snow on exposed clay site in Surrey-- will aim to sow in February --thank you

My experience has been problems (on heavy clay) with wet, rather than cold, even using a robust variety like Aquadulce.  I sow early in the new year, in pots, and transplant out.  I have grown Aquadulce for years, but this year plan to try all the varieties favoured for flavour (which is increasingly becoming our primary reason for growing our own veg) to have a taste-test and thereafter stick with a preferred variety; I think sowing early in the new year, rather than Autumn, will give me more options in that regard.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Wet soil is a problem for beans, rather than cold. I've tried various methods, and direct sowing around the beginning of March seems to work best so far. I haven't tried overwintering in a raised bed, but I anticipate reasonable results at least when I do.

[Digeroo]

No problems with waterlogged soil here, but they still never survive the winter.  I am on a natural raised bed of several feet of ice age gravel at home.  What is waterlogged soil?  I can dig here within hours of the rain stopping.

Could be damp air we get the mists from the lakes and river.   If they do survive then they only have a couple of pods per plant.   It could be a problem with the wind.   

Even a couple of years ago when March was horrendous the Feb sown ones did well.   

[Silverleaf]

Well we'll see what happens here. I'm on horrible clay, but my beans are in a raised bed full of compost and old manure with sandy soil in the bottom so drainage is fine.

I imagine once they've germinated the plants are pretty hardy.

[gray1720]

I have similar soil to Digeroo, but it floods from below rather than from above, so I think mine probably suffer from being windswept in winter. Certainly winter-sown ones don't get much further ahead than spring-sown ones, whether I flood or not. 

My parents always grew broad beans on Essex's infamous clay without problems, so I suspect they can handle that, but add in wind and you've got problems.

Adrian

[Digeroo]

I imagine once they've germinated the plants are pretty hardy.

 
I am sure they will do splendidly in my imagination, but reality can be very different.  Germination is no problem, but after that all sorts of things go wrong.  Something can eat the seed normally leaving the top.  But even quite big plants suddenly die for no apparent reason.  I have tried sowing early, late, several varieties - all the ones recommended for over wintering.  All end up as a waste of space and money. Cloches no cloches and every other trick or wheeze I can think of.

Some of my Wizard are looking bonny, but the second batch have been decimated by the seed eating, not clear why they left the first batch be they are only 6 inches away.  It will be interesting to see if they survive.  I also have some at home which is less windy, but none the less a waste of space for overwintering.   Over the years I have tried everything only once have I got a reasonably crop, and even then the February sown masterpiece green longpod, trump them big time only a week later in terms of flavour and total crop.   

[Silverleaf]

The guy who gave me the cold-hardy landrace seeds is obviously getting great results in France with winter sowing, so I'm hopeful they'll work here as well.

[Digeroo]

I will look forward to hearing how they get on.    I did have one plant which did well last year, it came up as a weed amongst the Russian kale, I am going plant some amongst the brassicas again as an experiment.

[ACE]

We used to get them by the hundredweight from a farm supplier and have a big share out. They were termed as field beans and we planted in October. Most of the time they were dug back in as a green manure, but they overwintered well and I would sometimes let a patch go full term for picking and eating. Autumn planting stopped the blackfly but the crop did not come any earlier.

[Silverleaf]

Here are the landrace seeds I got - look at the wonderful diversity!

Field beans plus larger commercial varieties crossed with field beans.

[grannyjanny]

There's one called express & that gives an early crop. I think Chris Cross grew a while back & was happy with the results.