Picture posting is enabled for all :)
I want to see if there really is a difference in how they grow.
Quote from: Silverleaf on March 01, 2015, 16:01:42I want to see if there really is a difference in how they grow.The theory is that the over winter ones are bigger / taller by the time that black fly arrive, the solution to which is to pinch out the tops - which is not-much-cop unless the plants are already a decent size :) Taller plants will start cropping earlier too of course ...
growing winter-sown and spring-sown beans side by side,
Quote from: Silverleaf on March 02, 2015, 02:32:55growing winter-sown and spring-sown beans side by side,Yup, that's my approach too. In other scenarios two separate experiments at different times might be comparable, but in the garden the weather etc. means that approach would be no better than a chocolate fire guard :) so needs to be side-by-side and same season.I've never done it with Broad Beans (given up on Autumn sown altogether as too many failures in wet winters / all winters?!!) but going by other people on forums saying when they start picking beans I reckon my Spring sown are indeed later than Autumn sown would be (or my garden is more exposed ... :) )
I'm surprised to hear so many say they can't get them to survive over winter. Did I just get lucky? A few didn't germinate, but all that did germinate have survived fine up to now.
Quote from: Silverleaf on March 02, 2015, 03:07:47I'm surprised to hear so many say they can't get them to survive over winter. Did I just get lucky? A few didn't germinate, but all that did germinate have survived fine up to now.If you have heavy, wet, cold clay soil in winter then you did well :) Some winters I did well too ... not enough to make me want to Autumn-sow any more though. Never had a problem with germination (assuming that mice didn't steal them :( ) it was just surviving a wet winter that was the problem.