Hi, I'm new to all this. I planted broad beans mid october. They grew to about 18inches under a mini plastic greenhouse. And seemed to be doing quite well until a particularly bad frost last night.
They're now limp and have fallen over. What happened?
I have some more planted later in November that are under a mini polytunnel but are getting too big for this - any ideas on how I can prevent them from suffering the same fate as the previous beans.
I have some more that were sown even later under fleece and they've only just started to poke through the soil. I'm hoping these wil be ok too.
Advice appreciated.
Jane
The last two mornings I have seen my broad beans collapsed and wilted too. But they are pretty hardy, as soon as the sun came out they perked up.
I have no protection on mine at all. I think its probably better not to protect them, but because you have started you may need to continue. Maybe once the tallest ones have thawed out you could stake them up?
You should be aware that not all varieties are suitable for over-wintering. Those that are don't need protection. Those that aren't will suffer.
Hi magnolia, :D
Your broad beans have been cosseted tooooo much by you ::) Assuming you have sown aquadulce claudia or another suitable overwintering broad bean,
they do not need any protection & will look after themselves through the winter. The late planted ones should be fine & will only grow to 4or 6 inches & then take off quickly in the spring when things warm up. The early ones are far too advanced at 18inches tall, they may survive but strong winds may play havoc with them so, as staking may not be possible (if you have got a lot) bang in a 3 foot high stake at each corner of the row & tie around this some string to support the beans. So whip those covers off now :o
Adrian.
Rather than whipping them off now, I would wait until next week when the frost weather is due to abate. It migh be a bit to much of a shock to your cossetted broadies to expose them now.
< thinks 'cossetted broadies' sounds vaguely mucky without knowing why>
Over wintering broad beans "what a waste of time", plenty of better things you could do. I plant in spring and get a great crop every year. ??? ;)
Thanks everyone. Yes they are overwintering beans!!
I only have 7 plants that have wilted so no great shame. Just a bit sad when you've been nuturing them and then they keel over. I don't have an allotment yet only my garden plot. Waiting list is 18mnths.
My onions and garlic are doing well mind.
My overwintering ones were brilliant this year. My spring sown were a near complete wash out. I still do both.
Quote"what a waste of time"
How can it be a waste of time? Same amount of work, earlier beans.
My late October sown broad beans should crop early - mid May to be followed by early Jan sowings to crop in June followed by late Feb sowing to crop in July.
The beans do all the work. I just plant them.
my self sown broad beans ( no idea what variaty ) are looking ok, a few have bits that are a little wilted but they seam to be happy enough. I took a photo and will try and get it off my phone tonight.
We usually sow our broad beans in Spring (well early in the New Year). We usually grow Imperial and/or Masterpiece Green Longpod. These varieties produce long pods with lots of lovely small green beans
Could I just ask a question? What varieties of broad beans most people grow?
I look at the pods for sale in supermarkets/greengrocers, and I wouldn't give a thankyou for them. The beans are really tough, and need 'skinning', whereas the varieties we grow, if picked when the beans are no bigger than thumbnail size, are sweet wonderfully flavoured and tender, and don't need skinning.
valmarg
I think the ones I use to be force fed to eat when young were greyish in colour and tough. That's what has put me off them all my life. My lottie neighbour John is growing some for me and we are going to taste them (cooked) at the lottie next year. He is convinced I will like them :-X
Oh I forgot to say....
Magnolia welcome to A4A and good luck with your broadies :)
I managed to get some Red Windsor seed for growing in the spring. Has anyone grown these before? I can't see them in any of the current catalogues. I got them at the local boot sale as end of date stock, part of a haul of 100 packets of seeds for 4 quid. Result! ;D
I've never heard of them, and I'm a sucker for strange varieties. You must let us know how they go!
I've only grown Aquadulce Claudia until this year. I planted 40 seeds of crimson-Flowered, deliberately putting them in late so as to avoid cross-pollination. They flowered during the worst of the weather, and the crop consisted of 20 beans, which I'll be planting in the spring.
I don`t think sowing hardy beans like Claudia Aquadulce is a waste of time.They might not have the flavour of some other less hardy spring sown varieties but they crop early and are better than nothing.
Possibly the biggest problem in sowing broad beans in the Autumn, is to stop the mice eating them before they get going. My neighbour sowed broad beans and has a nice row of little holes in the ground where the mice have dug out the beans!
Does anyone have success with soaking the beans in parafin before planting them, to stop the mice eating them?
Yes, paraffin is an answer. I believe that late Autumn planting is not beneficial in many parts.
Spring plants catch up to a degree.
I was always led to believe that the reason for autumn planting was to avoid blackfly.
Quote from: Rob the rake on December 13, 2007, 20:37:52
I managed to get some Red Windsor seed for growing in the spring. Has anyone grown these before? I can't see them in any of the current catalogues. I got them at the local boot sale as end of date stock, part of a haul of 100 packets of seeds for 4 quid. Result! ;D
Not heard of Red Windsor, but I planted Green Windsor this autumn. I havent tried them so waiting for the first tasting :D
no sign of my BBs yet ... I think the mice may have eaten them :(
... only one garlic popped up too - they've been in over a month.
Hi Star, Green Windsor are best sown in the spring, they're not as hardy as other varieties. You may need to give them a bit of protection. They're well worth growing though, not as productive as the longpods but with a far better flavour.
The red beans I found are Red Epicure, not Red Windsor, does that make more sense?
Rob. :)
Mice can be a big problem both in the autumn and spring. This year I covered the area sown with a scaffolders rubble net until plants had fully emerged. This seemed to do the trick.
Red Epicure are my favourite but I've never had any luck trying to over winter some... despite global warming!
:-[
Aquadulce sown about 5 weeks ago, had given up on them, but No, today they are just breaking through the ground ;D
So if there is no sign of digging, there is still hope they will emerge.
Mine were sown Nov 5th, now they are just starting to pop their heads through, about 1 to 2 inches high. :-\ ;D ;D ;D
Thanks for all the advice. The cossetted beans have perked up and I've opened up the windows in the mini cloche & staked them. They're coping fine with frost.
Removed the polytunnel from the 6inch plants and staked them, removed the fleece from the ones that have just sproutedand leaving them to their own devices.
Trial and error huh? I'm a great believer in learning by mistakes.
Must have a look to see if mine have popped up!
;D
My elderly neighbour earths his autumn sown broad beans up like potatoes. He says it stops them collapsing in a frost. His beans are always the tallest, the most flowering, and the most productive in the spring.
I have a nice double line of equally spaced holes!!!!
::)
Quote from: Rob the rake on December 15, 2007, 01:00:57
Hi Star, Green Windsor are best sown in the spring, they're not as hardy as other varieties. You may need to give them a bit of protection. They're well worth growing though, not as productive as the longpods but with a far better flavour.
The red beans I found are Red Epicure, not Red Windsor, does that make more sense?
Rob. :)
Oh dear.....thanks for heads up Rob, I will know better next year. And will get some protection sorted out tomorrow.
Sigh :-\
One good reason for overwintering BBs is that I pulled my first meal on 25th May this year and from half an 8X4 bed got 1.7Kg of exquisite podded beans over the next 4 weeks without a sign of blackfly.
Do not worry about leggy growth, if you have wind problems because of tall growth, then they will stand cutting back.
I have a few pictures on
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Vegetables_Broad_Beans.html
Hi there - here is my two cents. I planted Witkiem - a winter hardy variety last year and got a wonderful crop before the blackfly got it. The rest that I planted in Spring, Aquadulca got hammered by the blackfly and they ended up on the compost heap. This year I planted Witkiem again but was a bit late putting them in the ground (They were about 30cm long), so I dug a very deep hole and took the tops off them. I figure they have two chances - live or die. ;D ;D ;D
My early peas Meteor and Duce Provence are looking good though - no bean weevils attacking yet!!! Just put another lot of each into gutters and root trainers today for a second sowing. Anyone else got peas on the go??
Jitterbug
Technically but they haven't shown so may have been nibbled like the broadies! ;D
Quote from: mc55 on December 14, 2007, 22:03:09
no sign of my BBs yet ... I think the mice may have eaten them :(
No. I thought that. I planted mine on 11th November and nothing came through. I bought another packet to put in and when I got to the lottie this morning, first time since before Christmas I was gobsmacked to find every single one just poking through. That's almost 7 weeks to germinate.
Quote... only one garlic popped up too - they've been in over a month.
Same with the garlic. Planted 3 varieties the same day as beens. Germidore came through in 4 weeks, Christo a week later and just noticed Thermidome breaking through today after 7 weeks. so I'd give them more time before panicking.
had a very brief visit to the lottie at the w/e and was delighted to see that my broadies are just starting to poke through. They are about half an inch high.
Phew ! 8) 8)
I have always grown The Sutton due to being on plots that are hammered with the wind :( they always do well and ok you dont get so many beans per pod they are reliable !! I have tried so many times with Aquadulc but have given them one more go and they are up but the flipping pidgeons have been pulling them up so they are now netted !!
Going to try 'Express' in the spring.
After about 7 weeks since sowing, my daily inspections of the broad bean bed have been looking more and more forlorn. But this morning, to my delight, I see 3 shoots pushing their way through. Will watch out for the pigeons. Better still, when it stops raining I'll cover them with netting.
Quote from: forkauk on January 08, 2008, 10:19:09But this morning, to my delight, I see 3 shoots pushing their way through. Will watch out for the pigeons. Better still, when it stops raining I'll cover them with netting.
That's exactly what I did, as soon as I see them I netted them...
Wonder why they're taking so long to germinate? Still, glad mine weren't the only ones to take 7 weeks.
If mice are a problem - aren't they always? - why sow them direct into the soil? I sow mine in modules (Oct 10th, last year) and plant them out when they're 3 or 4 inches high (Oct 29th). They're now 9 or 12 inches high and seem quite bonny.
Last year my first picking was May 4th (from over-wintered Aqualdulce) and then the main-crop came in from June 3rd (HDRA's heritage Crimson-flowered beans - sown in modules during Feb and planted out Feb 21st & Mar 2nd). I made the last picking of the main-crop on July 14th, the day before the French beans started!!
Mine took ages and ages. but they're coming through now, after having been panted in October.