My Tiny PlotBroadbean plants
It’s time for the broadbeans that I sowed back in January to leave the protection of the Victorian greenhouse and make their own way in the world. They’re fully hardened off now and can withstand any temperature that the English winter can throw at them – well assuming we don’t get any more snow!
Grrr… I planted beans in late autumn and they have been eaten through the winter. All that is left, except for one accidental planting on the path!!!!, is stalks and no leaves. Yours look great. I have replanted but maybe I should have started off indoors like you. Oh well, I am learning.
Hi Luke – I had some problems last year with broadbeans – mainly that they just rotted in the ground and wouldn’t germinate. I sowed them twice, once in November and once in March with very patchy results either way. So this year I decided to leave nothing to chance and sow them in my cold frame. It seems to work – although the resulting plants are always a little more leggy than the ones sown outside.
How funny to see these broad bean plants.
I’m growing them on my roof in large pots and have eaten them already. The only thing I have to watch out for here in Malta is the wind.
Happy gardening!
Grrr.. I wish I lived in Malta :)
I also found sowing them in the greenhouse first works well. I sow them in little newspaper pots and then plant them out without any root disturbance. The ones that were planted out in autumn have survived the snow (it seems). I got some more that I sowed in Jaunary which will also be going into the ground within a week or so.
Pah – mtp doesn’t have room for a greenhouse at the moment. But I have a cunningly plan that will change all that. It’s called moving house :)
Well done mtp those plants look lovely and healthy! I usually start mine off in pots too, it really p+++es me off though when i plant out the green glossy beauties only to have them nibbled by pea and bean weevil to resemble broderie anglaise within weeks!They always survive these little buggers though so i don’t use any control (not that I would anyway!!).
Last year i experimented with autumn planted straight onto the plot and january in pots to see what the difference was in yield. I had crops from both, the autmn planted ones cropped about 2 weeks earlier which gave me longer picking time but that was all. i didn’t plant autumn ones this time I’m just doing plenty in pots instead to transplant in late march – I freeze lots of them anyway (so great to still show off about your ‘homegrowns’ even in winter!). XXX
I planted 25 broad beans back in November,only 3 have germinated – I am going to have to dig them up and put them together as they have germinated at opposite ends of the rows ! I don’t even like them all that much it was just to have something in the ground !
I know how you feel! – I’m not a bit fan of broadbeans either but come January it’s a case of ‘sow the beans or nothing’.
My broad-bean plants, also sown on allotment in November, had a great start but are now being eaten. My allotment neighbour reckons it’s the pigeons and suggests hoops and netting over the top to deter them. Most plants just have ‘lacy’ leaves but one now reduced to a stalk. Think I’ll try planting in pots first in future, but it was great to see something growing in the midst of winter on my (otherwise) pretty bare plot!
I too planted Aquadulce in November. They got off to a flying start too with no protection (it’s great to see something there in the bleakest of winter!). Now though, they’re about 4″ tall but starting to go black at the bases and keel over. I suspect a combination of rotting and slug action, but am hoping they’ll pull through. In light of some other comments though, i’ve pulled out those that look like they’ve had it and put in fresh seed. Sounds like they’re catch up fine.
Well, I’ve now netted mine over and this weekend planted out some more seedlings (grown on windowsill at home) to replace the failed ones – planted them in between the good plants so hopefully will provide some shelter (and encouragement) for the littlies! It’s now turned cold again here, but I reckon the seedlings will survive as meant to be autumn sowing … we’ll see!
\my broadbean have chocolcate spot. They are 2 inch hich. they have been sown 4″ by 4″ diagonally. I Can’t undersatand why they are all infected with chocolate spot.
Do you reckon they will survive?
Why did they fAIL?
What was in the ground before?
Where shoulD I PLANT THEM.?!
Hmmm… tricky one. Chocolate spot spreads more quickly in dry and humid weather. However, that’s not the cause of it. Usually, it’s down to your plants being infected either by spores in the soil or wind.
Other causes are acidic soil or over use of nitrogen rich fertilisers which encourages green leafy plants which in turn are easily attacked.
Either way, you’re unlucky to get chocolate spot. I think because your plants are so tiny they will be somewhat affected by it. Whether they will be killed outright I don’t know. You could leave them and see.
If you do have to give up on them for this year.
Don’t forget to burn the plants afterwards to get rid of the infection.
Good luck.
My broad beans are the pride and joy of my veggie patch. I planted them in late Feb, and they came up really quickly. They started flowering a couple of weeks ago, and the first pods are set now. Someone told me to pinch out the top leaves once the pods had set, to help prevent blackfly. Does this work?
And they taste great if you boil them, peel off the thick skins and fry them with bacon and garlic.