Every year I grow both Dwarf French Beans (sowed in the ground) and Climbing French Beans (in roottrainers then planted out) I always struggle to get good crops out of my dwarf Beans even when they germinate whilst I regularly get a good crop from the climbing beans. This led me to ponder - "why grow dwarf beans when you can grow climbers"? At best you get few dozen beans from a dwarf plant whilst from climbers you get at least a 100 and it carries on cropping until the frosts come.
Anyone any views on they matter!
you can get a very early crop if you want
you can repeat sow into July August
climbimg FBs are finished well before the frosts in my experience
I find that dwarf ones are quicker. I also sow some early july for a quick crop before the frost.
Though I am a fan of climbing French beans. I sow several batches and hope to have beans until the frost. But with the dwarf ones you can cloche them up both early and late.
Yes fast - they're a cheer-up crop (if your climbing beans get eaten/damaged or you want to sow something in late summer).
I think the dwarf French beans taste better, especially the round type, I grow 4 plants in the polytunnel for eating, these keep cropping most of the summer if regularly picked, I also grow a row outside for freezing. Luv em :icon_thumright:
Alan
I prefer the taste of the climbing French, though of course haven't tried every variety. I grow Blue Lake, the bonus is that they are so much easier to pick. I think they crop more heavily too, and keep going right through to frost time.
I grow both! Dwarf because they are quick and climbing because they save space. BuT I agree that the climbers seem to live a shorter life.
I personally think that it is difficult to beat the taste and cropping of Mrs Lewis's purple podded it is a climber and the beans seem to drip from the plants. I do several planting to hopefully crop all summer. The second sowing are hopefully coming on line and I can leave the first to go to seed.
Can confirm Mrs Lewis productivity, though you are wasting a fine shelling bean (brilliant in baked beans) if you eat the thing green.... I grow a few Speedies in a self-watering trough, starting them in the propagators in February and they're cropping now, plus the green bean in my monstrous plant-out of beans is Cobra, an half-dozen plants is enough for me to eat as many green beans as I want through the summer and it freezes very well indeed ...
I grow both types too and find like others, Dwarf types are great for an early crop or a very late one indoors. For eating green I love the fine fillet beans, my nephew calls them squeeky beans. Though I prefer eating runners once they are ready so the pole beans I tend to grow are mostly to shell. I'm also enjoying some of the climbing Greasy and Fall type beans more and more :happy7:
I have not tried Mrs Lewis in baked beans. I normally get loads of both green beans and shelling beans. So I will give them a whirl. I love home cooked baked beans no sugar in them.
For us the wide French beans they sell in the supermarket are known as squeaky beans,
I also like the climbing ones you eat as fresh podded beans like peas.
I'm flitting this summer. House goes on market this week, so I wanted quickies....
I sowed 3 sorts of DFbs, 2 from seed swap and some left over waxpods from Lidl. F2# from one of you are now 3ft. tall and climbing well in poly and some climbing outdoors. Its amazing what F2#can do. All look healthy and happy so long as the snails and slugs are kept at bay. Thankyou Ruud and another for mystery climbers from DFB packets... :toothy10: