broad beans coming up

[gardening jan]

just got my allotment is it too late now to put in broad beans i'm desperate to plant something?

[gardening jan]

[littlebabybird]

hi jan welcome to a4a
i'm no expert, but i would give it a go
lbb

[gardening jan]

Thanks litttle lady bird I will give it a go, but not today the weather is dismal

[jonny211]

Hi,

Does it matter which way up you plant the beans as I didn't think about it until I'd done one row, and then was unsure whether the little light-coloured patch on the bean should be facing upwards or not.

Cheers!

Jon

[saddad]

Mine aren't showing yet...  :-\

[Kea]

No sign of my broad beans...except for the rotting seed I found today sitting on the surface. I had a look and gently dug around where they should be ...nothing. looks like they've rotted or been eaten. :(

[saddad]

MIne are showing at last!!  ;D

[tomatoada]

I just plant my seeds any way up.  Just push them in the ground, or compost in a pot and no problem.

[hopalong]

Mine are just starting to show too, at last.  :)

[redimp]

just got my allotment is it too late now to put in broad beans i'm desperate to plant something?

I will be planting some more (Aquadulce) at the weekend but they will be in pots under cover.  I wouldn't risk direct sowing with no ground cover at the moment - the ground is probably too cold and they will rot or the meeces'll get em.

[Kea]

I think I'll plant some at home in pots.....I planted a lot and none have appeared!

[artichoke]

Chit them first -  well known system of putting seeds into damp cloth inside plastic bag, plant out the ones that show a root after a few days.

Must admit I have  a few gaps even after this. More chitting will fill these.

[telboy]

I don't understand the 'panic' to plant at this time of the year.
If you live in the 'sarf', I can understand the reasoning.
Be patient, come spring, just get on with it! everything catches up in time - honest!!!!

[Plot69]

I don't understand the 'panic' to plant at this time of the year.

The idea behind planting BB's early is to miss the blackfly season which for me works very well. I planted mine when we had that really hard frosty snap and they're a good 5 inches high now.

I planted in November last year. After 6 weeks it was a no show so I planted another packet. Four weeks after that they had ALL come through so I had plenty of BB's last year.

[telboy]

So P69,
Your beans grow backwards?
Sorry -  8) 8) 8)

[ina]

Hi,

Does it matter which way up you plant the beans as I didn't think about it until I'd done one row, and then was unsure whether the little light-coloured patch on the bean should be facing upwards or not.

Cheers!

Jon

Somwhere I read that beans should go in straigt up (not flat) with the scar down.
I think it has to do with less chance of rotting, when the water drains down, it will not puddle on top of a flat bean this way.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I don't take any notice of stuff like that, as I find it very hard to imagine a vegetable seed, which has to germinate easily and reliably to be successful, being so delicate! If it was some really difficult plant, I might take it a bit more seriously, but beans?

[Eristic]

I believe that the careful positioning of bean seeds at planting time is more to do with showmanship where extremely good growers are competing with each other and vying for an advantage. If the seed is viable it will germinate and grow as soon as the required conditions prevail.

Patience is a key quality of allotment growing.

[Kea]

I don't understand the 'panic' to plant at this time of the year.
If you live in the 'sarf', I can understand the reasoning.
Be patient, come spring, just get on with it! everything catches up in time - honest!!!!

I had a better crop last year when I planted in autumn than I did from planting in spring. the plants where healthier, I get chocolate spot and it didn't get the autumn planted ones till they had almost finished.

[betula]

Huge black fly probs with mine last year :(