I always start mine off in loo rolls. Have tried sowing direct, but lose too many (to slugs, mice, weather, etc) I have just about given up on dwarf beans, too. They tend to get eaten by anything except me. Best ones last year were Blue Lake, germinated in loo rolls in the cold greenhouse and planted onto the lottie mid-May - grown up wigwams of canes. No problems with slugs, but watch out for snail damage - those little so and so's climb!!!