How do you know if beans climb or are dwarf?? Am I going to have to do lots of googling?? Are small beans dwarf and big beans climbers? Is there a bean website out there which will tell me all I need to know??????????
Emma, it should tell you on the packet of seed if they are climbers or not
er sorry Emma , just seen your other thread on beans
At first Emma, I thought you were joking, but then I realised that this is a grey area, and have used the catalogues for guidance, as they normally indicate. Like you say, there must be some database out there somewhere. This has not been a problem for me so far, as I have purchased seed based on availability from a catalogue, which has provided the required information. By the way, the french for dwarf is 'nain' ...
going to have a googling session tonite. A lot of my seeds are given to me (well most ;D) and come in envelopes of little bags and unless they say pole, climber or dwarf, I am in the dark! I shall check, check and check again! ;D
You can turn a climbing bean into a dwarf if you want. I ran out of beanpoles for climbing beans last year, so I pinched off the tops of the climbers to get dwarf beans (about .5m, 1ft 6" tall). They grew sideshoots and cropped fine, so there's an option for any Mystery Beans ;D
Have you found http://www.beansandherbs.co.uk/ yet?
I prefer climbers for two reasons, one - they use less space, and two - there is less bending involved in cropping them (and less searching generally too). I don't mind the effort of erecting the poles ...
Right-ee-ho, have spent the evening a-googling and out of the 36 varieties of bean/pulse I have, 11 climb, 13 bush, and the rest I can't find any info on! A start! ;D
Are you going to grow all 36 Emma? I'm impressed! Was planning to have a big bean and pea year myself, specially purple varieties, but haven't got anything like that many. Also I'm probably being rather optimistic as peas were definitely in my "must do much,much better" category last year. However, now I can't move for toilet roll tubes and sawn off lengths of plastic guttering (and egg boxes ready for the pots) so am ready to go!
I am certainly going to try! :D With some, I only have 6 or 7 seeds so am planning to do a row of wigwams along one edge of my plot, then I can grow the different varieties up there own wigwam. If I am impressed by the seeds, then plan to save lots of seeds and narrow down the amount of varieties. I am looking foward to growing Goats Eye and Lady Blue!! :D :D
I would be interested to know how many of these beans are shelling varieties Emma, ie haricot types etc. as this is something I have not really tried, except for borlotti beans ... and would definitely like to try more, as they dont need freezer space ...
What a brilliant idea Emma, one wigwam per variety :) - I'll try that this year too (though not with 36 varieties yet ::)).
In one of my Bookes it's suggested that tall veg should go on the North and East of a plot (unless yours is shaded) and the small veg on the South and West, the idea being that the sun will get to all parts and the tall plants won't shade the small 'uns :P. Since climbing beans are probably the tallest plants on the plot, any thoughts on the above gladly received ... ;D
Derek - I seem to think that all beans can be dried for later use? Just that we don't usually do it!
supersprout this is a problem for me too. I read that rows should go north to south but in my allotments everyone plants east to west and seems to do well.
Also I have been wondering about eg wigwams of beans which may well be higher than other crops and come betwqeen them and the sun. On the otherhand there's crop rotation to consider.... ::)
What should be first consideration in all this .. :-\ :-\ :-\?
Quote from: periwinkle on January 06, 2006, 21:56:21
Derek - I seem to think that all beans can be dried for later use? Just that we don't usually do it!
Plainly and simply dried runner beans are one of the best tasting dried beans I have ever tasted and as a vegetarian I have tasted a lot of beans.
I'm blessed with a South-facing green mesh fence (about 6')on my plot, as a divide between me and the next section of Lotties. I plant to let my climbing beans run rampant over this, as it is my first year, and I haven't worked out my full rotation strategy yet, and I'm turning into a lazy so-and-so after reading Bob Flowerdew's book!
For dwarves, I have used some old cuttings from a Buddleia I am trying to erradicate from my garden (hope they don't root!). Other non-dwarves will be supported in the traditional way.
Well graw, my Booke suggests two rotations for the high and low plants:
- A Sun Blocker rotation for plants grown e.g. on frames or canes: tomatoes; then sweetcorn; then squash; followed by beans/peas
A Low Grower rotation: peppers/aubergines/spuds; then brassica/radishes/Oriental greens; then onions/beets; followed by carrots/parsnip.
I like the idea, but haven't tried to apply it (time enough til the serious planting season).
There's also been some discussion about whether it hurts to grow your beans in the same place year after year, and many peeps said they had no problem. So grrr to Jimbo lucky you wiv your fence :P
My broccoli have shot up to 3ft tall so I think I would put them into the Sun Blocker category ;D