Over Wintering Broad Beans

[Nobbyman]

Hi all!!  ::)

This is the first year that I have planted overwintering broad beans. I planted the sutton dwarf type and they have all come up and are doing well under my plastic bottle cloches!!

Do I still need to keep the cloches on until the risk of last frosts have past. I am asking as some of the leaves are going black etc where they touch the plastic bottles!!

Please help!!  ???

Nobbs xx  :P

[Nobbyman]

[Moggle]

I'm a bit nervous now! I planted some Sutton in November, without any protection at all (extreme gardening?) and the showed their little heads sometime mid-december. Haven't been able to get there to check since Boxing day (when they looked fine) but that was before the worst of the weather  :-\ Must go and check how they are doing.

You can usually sow non-hardy broadies in Feb I think, so at a guess to try and be useful, I'd say whip off the bottle cloches sometime in Feb, perhaps when a couple of mild days/nights are forecast.

[robkb]

Moggle - I also sowed some Suttons in November, also without protection, and they're fine - about 6 inches tall and looking quite healthy considering over the last few weeks they've been hit by frost, rain, wind and a light dusting of snow!

Cheers,
Rob ;)

ps. did some in pots in the greenhouse as a back-up, so now have far too many... :-[

[Svea]

snap

i thought i  had no chance in hell of them ever showing as i sowed them and then we had really hard frost for like a week or so

i was assured by a friend that they would make an appearance in their own time. so they have

i had a fleece over them for a bit but i have removed that now. it doesnt seem necessary. time now to put in 'filler' seed where four havent shown up.

[Hyacinth]

I grew Aquadulce Claudia last season for the 1st time & sowed them October-ish. Didn't give them any protection at all and the plants were all brill - more than I can say for the beans tho - lovely fat pods and loads of them but very few beans :(

Still, the compost heap benefited ;D

[angle shades]

I have grown Bunyards Exibition broad beans for the last six years,without protection, after planting them in November  and last Wednesday they were up!
This is the latest they have appeared.

[John_H]

Broad beans seem to be hardy to almost everything. All I have done is put a bit of sharp sand around the base of them, just to make it a little bit harder for the slugs to shin up them or shelter in that gap which you sometimes get between the base of the plant and the soil.

I do the same with garlic though I have never really tested if it actually makes any difference.

[grawrc]

If I want to plant some should I wait till February or go ahead now? Meant to do it October/ November but ran out of time and daylight.

[Hyacinth]

When I had mine I was told to either put them in Oct/Nov or under cloches in Feb. (I live in the midlands). Chose the earlier option, but do remember the advice abt the cloche.

[grawrc]

Thanks for the advice. Would fleece do? (Or plastic coke bottles?) MY sons are coke addicts - not the one you sniff I hasten to add. ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you're getting few beans in the pods that's due to poor pollination. You need to encourage your insect population all you can.

[supersprout]

Hey moggle, snap - I planted Sutton in December (got a little behind  :P) and they were up and waggling in the breeze when I went to look today!  ;D

[Hyacinth]

Thanks for the advice. Would fleece do? (Or plastic coke bottles?) MY sons are coke addicts - not the one you sniff I hasten to add. ;D

;D ;D

Would you think of starting them off in pots & planting them out when they've germinated - might give them a start. Then take it from there as to if you fleece for frost protection?

[Moggle]

Do I still need to keep the cloches on until the risk of last frosts have past. I am asking as some of the leaves are going black etc where they touch the plastic bottles!!

Hmmm, so back to Nobbyman's original question - based on what people have said here about their suttons being okay, then perhaps the black where the beans touch the bottles is a bit of scorch from the sun?? I think you're in Bristol Nobby? I can't imagine you having worse weather than me in Oxfordshire, or Alishka in the Midlands so I'm guessing that it's not cold.

[growmore]

I would say no remove cloches..Broad beans should be hardy ..
As I think I have said before  out of habit I always put a row of broadies out in Oct and My main crop of broadies I sow in late Feb early March .To be honest I haven't found  a lot of difference as the over wintered ones have to wait for the soil, temp and light etc to grow on to maturity ,,,So do we gain a lot by setting them in Autumn ?Maybe a week or 2 ..Whats Your thoughts on this ?? cheers Jim....

[jennym]

The autumn ones seem to bear beans before the blackfly really get a grip on my site, but if that's not a problem where you are then have to agree.  Would say though that here its probably more like 3 or 4 weeks difference.

[Nobbyman]

Oooooooooh!!

O.K - So perhaps I have better remove cloches!!!

Thanks for all your advice!!

Nobbs xx

Moggle - yep live in sunny Bristol!!!!

[Moggle]

Just for the record, I checked my broadies at lunch time today and they are looking weeny but good - apart from where the slugs have had a taste  >:(

[redimp]

I my aquadulces were all looking fine at the weekend for the record.

[Lady Cosmos]

Never use cloches or fleece for my broadbeans when sowing in autumn.
My next crop I am sowing in early March, and it makes a differene of about 3 weeks, I guess between the winter and the spring sowed ones.