Broad Bean pots

[picman]

I've never done much good with planting BBs in autumn ,I wait until March and sow into pots in unheated green house then into cold frame . generally using fiber pots , the ones you plant directly in ground. results last year were mixed... pots had a strange vinegar smell ? , this year I started a trial .  Home made paper pots. the fiber pots , and plastic. The seed ( bunyards exhibition )and conditions were same for each batch, this is result as of today. 52 now planted will see how they fair.

[picman]

[caroline7758]

Impressive result for the paper pots- I wonder if it's the depth that makes the difference?

[amphibian]

Is this repeated across many pots or just one result - is edge effect an issue here?

[picman]

amphibian  Sorry missed your Q ,  I did about 45 seeds  apx 15 of each pot. I should have hardened them off more before planting , they are all looking a bit sad in this chill spell.   edge effect  ??

[lezelle]

Hi Ya, I think the depth of pot does have an effect as I was always told beans like a nice deep root run. I sow mine in deep root trainers and they always still throw roots out of the bottom and if left on bare earth send them down deeper. I like the paper pot idea but when I tried they always fall to bits and become a mess, toilet roll holders the same. I used fibre pots but when I lifted the beans at the end of the season the pots were stiil there. Still I keep tyring. Happy gardening

[galina]

Agree with Lezelle.  Newspaper pots or toilet roll inners are best for broad beans because they are just a bit deeper.  Whether they will make up the difference fast once they are planted would be another question.  Because fibre pods are so fibrous, they need to be buried well or even the tops torn down, to avoid windrock which can isolate the soil inside the pot so that it dries fast and the plants get killed.  I also bury the top of  newspaper post, but it isn't so critical. 

[squeezyjohn]

My broad beans sown in toilet roll tubes are still looking a bit sorry for themselves about 3 weeks after having been planted out.  I've always had more success with root trainers than any kind of biodegradable pots.

[Redalder]

Haven't bothered with pots for broad beans either in Aberdeenshire or Cornwall since I did some trails several years ago up north and found that pot sown did not seem to have any advantage over direct sowing, caught up with each other and all cropped at once.  Direct sowing now well on its way in the milder climate down here.

Not so far tried autumn sewing since moving to Cornwall but in Aberdeenshire the autumn sowing cropped about the same time as the spring (if it made it through the snow) and I gave it up.

[sparrow]

I have to sow in pots or the mice/voles eat them all. Nice experiment, I'll be interested to hear how it goes.

[bridbod]

Spotted the roots trying to escape from the bottom of the paper pot. Toilet roll/kitchen roll inners always go horribly mouldy on the outside but goodness knows why they should be so attractive to moulds.

[picman]

Embarrassingly... I have to report I think I have dropped an almighty clanger, the paper potted plants are more or less DEAD....  ... as I constructed the newspaper pot around the former  they would not stay together  so i used a drop of pva adesive !  didn't think pva was toxic ?  or perhaps the newsprint ink ...  . I will post picture ,    Is it too late for seed in ground now ? ( Worcestershire)

[Silverleaf]

PVA isn't toxic (to humans anyway) and newspaper ink is soya-based, and similarly non-toxic.

[picman]

A picture of failed bean , the roots are discolored, the pot not breaking down... 75% of the paper potted plants are like this one, the others seem to be growing out of the problem  slowly ?

[Robert_Brenchley]

I think this is some sort of bacterial rot, but the plant has probably been in the pot too long.

[galina]

A picture of failed bean , the roots are discolored, the pot not breaking down... 75% of the paper potted plants are like this one, the others seem to be growing out of the problem  slowly ?

I very much doubt it has anything to do with the newspaper.  I make newspaper pots all the time and no ill effects on the plants.  My broadies were in newspaper pots earlier and they are looking very well and flowering away.

There are two ways of holding them together.  You could use a rubber band or alternatively (this is what I do) place them next to each other in one of those clear plastic supermarket punnets that have holes already stamped out from the bottom.  Grapes and other fruit often come in these trays.  if they don't have holes in the base, just cut some yourself.  The paper pots and contents are supported by each other inside the punnet.  There is a minimal amount of roots growing into the next newspaper pot, but this only happens if planting out was well overdue.

I have no explanation why your broadies look so sad, but it isn't the newspaper pots.  Yes you can still sow now, but you are more likely to get black fly.  So you need to be more on the lookout and ready with the remedies (organic or chemical) to deal with blackfly.  I would certainly plant them well away from the first batch, because you don't want their blackfly to rush over to the little plants from the second sowing.

Good luck   

[ThomsonAS]

I've never tried starting my broad beans in pots - sowing direct seems to work for me (whether in November or February). Interesting to learn alternatives.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I gave up starting mine in pots because of problems with bacterial rot.