In article ,
wrote:
On Sunday, 16 June 2019 11:21:14 UTC+1, Charlie Pridham wrote:
First time I have tried to grow these, I was expecting them to be the
same as runner beans re germination but so far have very poor
germination in the ground, I have started another batch under glass but
have I just been caught out by this years weird weather or are they more
tricky?

I prefer them to runner beans as they don't go stringy. I always sow
them in root trainers and plant them out and have never had a
germination problem.

No, they are no trickier. I soak mine for 12-24 hours, germinate them
on damp kitchen roll in a deep kitchen container under clingfilm, and
plant them into paper pots. This is because something attacks my bean
seeds in the ground after germination and before emergence, and I get
very low success rates. It sounds like a lot of hassle, but isn't,
because you get a much better crop per plant than for dwarfs - several
times as much, over a long period.

The only beans that I can plant directly are broad beans, and even then
I need to pre-germinate them and plant them early. Late ones do not
succeed.

I have given up on most green ones, on the grounds of poor success
rate and lack of flavour - they USED to be OK, but current varieties
aren't. However, I got some Shiny Fardenlosa seed in New Zealand, and
they are good, though I have to save my own seed, of course. I also
grow blue beans (usually Cosse Violette, though not this year),
Borlotti, Cherokee Trail of Tears and Greek Gigantes (actually a
runner bean), the last three for drying.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.