Aquadulce claudia broad beans

[Bjerreby]

I was told aquadulce claudia broad beans could survive quite a bit of frost, so I planted last October. They grew very nicely, and for a while I was hopeful they could survive. I even covered them with a frame during the worst snow and frost.

Most of them now have black stems and have toppled over, although one is sprouting new shoots again.

Any ideas how long I should give them before I declare them dead? :(

I made a second sowing in Janary, and they look more promising. :)

[Bjerreby]

[saddad]

If your second sowing are coming through I'd grub out the others..  :-\

[artichoke]

If there is a sign of young shoots coming up from underneath, I would leave them. I have three patches of these beans, with some gaps, and some spares growing in a gutter with which I filled the gaps where nothing was happening. Had more gaps this year than last, so have just started off a second gutter with pre-chitted seeds (pre-chitted to speed up the process).

If I touch the blackened stem and it comes out of the ground easily, I assume death and rotting seed, and I have some of those. But I definitely would not grub out the whole patch. In my experience the blackened stems that still show signs of life grow on strongly.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Wait and see how many come back, then use the second sowing to fill the gaps, as they transplant easily when they're small. Last year all of mine were alive at the beginning of February, but half had died by the end of March. After that experience, I didn't try overwintering them this year. I'll be interested to see how other people did!

[ceres]

I've got the same as Bjerreby.  I've lost about half of those planted in October.  Most of the 'dead' ones had nothing alive underground - there were only a couple I grubbed out that had a tiny green shoot forming in the roots.  I've infill planted with new seedlings today.  I'm disappointed at how unhardy they've turned out to be.  I've got the same problem with Pea Meteor I also planted in the autumn.  I'd say more than half are kaput.  I think I'll give Autumn planting a miss in future except for onions and garlic.

[realfood]

It is likely that a combination of frost, wet and wind will cause losses of overwintering Aquaduce. While they may be able to survive the Winter in the most favoured mild parts of the UK, for the rest of us it would be better to provide cloche protection over the Winter.
In the Glasgow area I have given up on overwintering Aquaduce. Instead, I sow them in pots in the greenhouse in early Feb, and I planted them out early in March under cloches and they are looking good.

[debster]

i tried an early sowing of these last year with very little result and were definatly not any earlier in the end

[laurieuk]

I have grown autumn sown Aqua Dulcie with very good results the last few years but this year they have suffered with the cold and wet. I put a photo early on my blogspot showing how good they were but now I am waiting to gap them up to make a complete row having lost some of them. They usually recover enough to give a fair crop.

[becky0129]

Same with me this year all dead from the snow wind and rain have sowed more lost all 30 plants  :'(and hubby had made me a new raised bed on one of the allotments

[Robert_Brenchley]

They're fine in the mild winters. I've got loads of Poundland cloches so I may try those next winter.