I planted my broad beans (first time) 3 weeks ago and as yet have only 2 very tiny seedlings.
By co-incidence I've just come across some photos of my last garden exactly 2 years ago to the day and all the flowers were weeks in advance of this years. We have moved one mile up the hill, I suppose it's colder and more exposed and it has been a chilly spring but I was quite shocked.
Should I give up hope on broad beans this year?
Sand
Lots of peeps seem to be planting late, also reporting no-shows (Bunyard's Exhibition) :-\
See http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,57/topic,18872.0
Good luck! :)
A no-show on early plantings does not mean you have missed your chance. I get no-shows regularly, just keep plugging away, eventually it will gel, and then wham, you are snowed under. Good luck anyway :)
Mine went in a week or so ago. You'll be all right; if you're planting early, do it October and give them a chance to establish themselves before the cold weather arrives. Otherwise a seed just sitting there in cold wet soil is liable to rot.
Why should anyone be different??
An update on a controlled sowing!!
My beans are also rubbish this year,germination has been sparse,usually they have flowers on now and I'm picking in May and beat the blackfly, not this year :-\I always grow Bunyards Exhibition, but they obviously cannot stand the weather we have had this year.Planted some more in modules 3 weeks ago and are ready to plant out now, but look a lot better than at my plot ::) I don't want my new babies to get cold ;D ;D ;D/angle shades x
Mine are looking like those on the left Tim ...
I guess I am getting boring by now as I always preach patience. And this year is a late one-I planted out my broad beans(raised indoors )today. I want even think about French beans,runners and sweet corn for at least three weeks.
Quote from: Curry on April 26, 2006, 18:55:46
Mine are looking like those on the left Tim ...
roflmao ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Thanks for your replies, I don't feel so bad now.
So, do I give up and plant some more or just plant something else altogether? If I do plant more, shall I start them indoors?
???Sand
Personally, I'd give up on them and start some french beans under cover to get a head start. Then maybe try sowing your broad beans in October, giving them a bit of shelter and enjoying them spring 2007?
A very exciting swap I did was for red flowered broadies, ;D they have ALL come up ;D - but it took 16 days in the patio greenhouse.
Love spring!!
I came in for criticism on the allotment for sowing broad beans in late September. My critic said they were too early, would grow too fast, and would collapse in the winter. Actually, he was right - but new shoots sprang up after the frost and snow and are now 18 inches tall and have been flowering profusely for over 2 weeks. His, sown in October, are weedy by comparison and not yet flowering. Makes me wonder if we should routinely cut back the first shoots to encourage bushiness and early flowering?
Also, to be repetitive, I am now chitting all large seeds by placing in damp cloth on plastic tray inside plastic bag in airing cupboard, and am only sowing the ones that germinate. I have got fed up with sowing straight into the soil and having gappy rows. It's no extra work, and it's quite interesting to see how many in fact do not germinate even in these ideal conditions.
i sowed mine in november - quite late i thought - and they have all come up bar two and are now flowering. the two gaps were filled in march and the little replacement plants are almost as large as the originals.
i would concur with jenny, however - but it does depend on how much space you have on your plot.
mine is tiny so if i didn have them well under way by now, i would concentrate on the french beans - that would be my preference.
but then i love french beans :)
I planted 3 rows, one in mid Feb, mid March and about 3 weeks ago...absolutey nothing - until this monday.. the last two sowings have now all pretty much appeared! I gave up on the first lot ages ago.
Some pea's i planted 2 weeks ago, straight in the ground, have all come up to!
Everything is motoring now, my early spuds have gone off like crazy too.
I have a confession - I have been fiddling about in the soil where I planted the beans and hey presto...we have beans! Just below the surface so I'm expecting their heads out soon.
Thanks for the tips, but JennyM, we already have a conservatory full of runner beans and french beans waiting to go out!
I've sown some beetroot in between the broad bean rows so the land won't go to waste if they don't do so well.
Off to pick some PSB, now there's another story about a battle of wills between my hubby who wanted to rip them out and me who wanted to give them 'just a bit more time'. They were worth the wait. So you may be right, I need more patience!
Sand
I'm on my third sowing of Broad Beans (if you count the October/November sowings). The mice took mine and now they are living in my compost bin (humph). But I kept on planting them and now I have a healthy row of broad beans that are just starting to show flowers. I'm looking forward to beans this year for the first time - fingers crossed they taste nothing like the ones I had in school.