Allotments 4 All

i sowed french beans in pots ages ago and they germinated and grew really quickly.  They grew very leggy and I had loads so I decided to plant some out 2 weeks ago.  Unfortunately they were got by the frost.  3 days ago dug them up and planted the rest (VERY leggy by now) as the forecast was so much better.  Been down this morning and all bar 1 has snapped!!  :'( Very fed up and disheartened as nothing seems to be doing very well this year - 2nd lot of carrots not germinated yet either.

Is there still time to plant more french beans outdoors?  I have never done them direct as suffer with so many weeds!

Of course!!

Up till July.

I've just sown my climbing and dwarf French beans indoors!

I've discovered this year that in this gardening game it's often too early but rarely too late...

 Dont give up, get sowing indoors and when through just harden off outside. I have blue lake did not think anything could grow so fast they have been out a week now sheltered by the house and still growing.
My runners seem slower in comparasion. Most strange

 ;D  happy again now - thanks!  I like the comment about rarely being too late.  I think that sometimes the packets of seeds are a bit misleading and garden centres cause even more confusion because their things are so often forced on.  Sends me into mild panic! 

So many new gardeners get caught out by garden centres when bedding plants and now vedge plants come in they buy and plant and a night of frost all is lost and a lot of money. It is realy frightening they do not warn via notices of waiting to plant untill all frost has gone.

I know just how you feel Just. 

My fellow lottie and I went down to the plot today and all, yes all the french beans had succumbed to the frost.  :( It was so disheartening.  The site is very open and prone to frost.  I should have known better, and didn't put any fleece down as I didn't have any with me at the time. 

Growing your own does have it's very steep learning curves.   We were blinded by the success we had last season and assumed we would do even better this season. Doe!!

QuoteI've discovered this year that in this gardening game it's often too early but rarely too late

(Except for weeding).

Quote from: Justy on May 21, 2005, 16:18:13
i sowed french beans in pots ages ago and they germinated and grew really quickly.  They grew very leggy and I had loads so I decided to plant some out 2 weeks ago.  Unfortunately they were got by the frost.  3 days ago dug them up and planted the rest (VERY leggy by now) as the forecast was so much better.  Been down this morning and all bar 1 has snapped!! 

May have stood a better chance had you planted them deeper? I read on here not long ago that you can plant leggies up to the lowest leaf. ???

Was having a similar problems with my early sown that were still in 3 inch pots - they were snapping off at seed leaf height.  Posted a question on here on Friday and SandersJ had solved it within half an hour - it seems that the seeds leaves (funny aren't they) get a fungus and rot back into the stem.  You should just knck these and if they fall off dispose of them.  Needless to say, I am now reguarly knocking my seed leaves.

There is a common thread of vegetables being late, not germinating - much handwringing. The brother of my friend who gives me cow muck by the lorry load runs a small nursery (plants not kids). I mentioned about my beans and peas being slow to germinate and he said the problem for all nurserymen this year was that April was warmer than May.

It is going to be such a difficult year that B&Q have stopped placing contracts for any more plants. They will buy them if they think they can sell them, but B&Q are nervous about a chilly spring and early summer and geting landed with plants they can't shift.

(This is the same B&Q that happily sells bedding plants at Easter knowing full well they will sell the same lot again at Whitsuntide after frosts have killed them and probably half as many again at the end of June when the frosts have killed many Whitsuntide bedding plants, but the frosts truly gone.) - Bob

true.  Our Homebase is the same - their plant racks are filled with half dead pathetic bedding plants that they are selling off at silly prices because they are all too early. 

Justy I had a good chuckle over this one. I only bought my fbeans yesterday. They are still in the packet.

Planting some in the ground tomorrow, got two sorts, one pale yellow and the prince, can't remember name of other one. Am still in pj's so not going out to potting shed to look. Will plant about 1/2 into pots just in case those in ground get hit by my mouse colony. They have been very ordered, the mice, only hit one row of peas left the others. Think we may have come to an agreement, 1/4 to mice 3/4 to me LOL.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one still in pj's. I've just hung the washing out and found out I forgot to close the greenhouse door last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I am having either a blond moment, or a senior moment.  More like the latter.  Only it's lasting a bit longer than a moment.  ;D ;D ;D

Ladies,

This is a family board, all this talk of gardening in night clothing could be too much for some of the younger listers (it's still Spring after all)!!  ;D

Phil

younger, or older, listeners, phil? ;D

my french beans have indeed been a bit of a nightmare so far - i tried some outdoors in the second half of april (when it was warm, remember?) and only about 5 plants have come up. i tried starting some indoors but again germination hasnt been great - some beans have even started to mould and 'go off' after a while - too moist maybe but then you cant blame a girl for watering when the soil is dry...???

so, third time lucky? i will plant out those that germinated ok next weekend, together with another two or more rows of seed directly in the ground - and then we'll see what we get.

hopefully some results - as i love french beans! but i am running out of seed - lol!

svea

I've also got the french bean blues...planted 30 in pots but they just all went mouldy  - think they were too wet. Have put another load in pots and also some straight into ground at allotment but no joy with any of them.
Went to garden centre yesterday and bought the last few on the shelf - made me wonder if loads of other people have been (pun intended ;)) having problems too.

I have been germinating them to get a shoot in a bowl of water in my kitchen. I change the water daily and its amazing how fast they throw out a little white shoot.
I then shove them in a hole in a grow bag and when the grow bag is full of seedlings transplant on - and still have the grow bag for use for a tomato plant. Any beans that fail after shooting stay in the soil to add goodness to the grow bag.

I have had great success with this simple method.

Last year I had no luck so got Blue Lake the climbing one.
Thats one has taken off I have more than I need put too many down and use old methord of kitchen paper damp in lunch box a week or so later all up and pot up in drinking cups now they are outside hardening off. Hopefully lottie soon
Do you think its either old seed they sell or the type of bean we use?

great idea - will give it a go when new lot of seeds arrive!  My nightmare actually wasn't as bad as first thought.  When I had chance to actually get down with the beans yesterday 6 of the plants were still ok - had just sort of blown horizontal.  I got rid of the snapped ones and then dug up the ok ones and replanted much deeper as per Roys advice.