Grow Your Own Magazine

Can you help with a dwarf French bean enquiry. I planted some in a segmented tray (don't know the correct terminology sorry) and hovered anxiously over them, keeping them warm and moist, but not wet. Not a single one germinated! Aarggh! So the next lot I put straight into a raised bed. I have 3 that have come through, the others in the row are refusing point blank to grow. I adore French beans and my seeds(?) produce the variety that are purple on the plant but green when cooked. Can't remember the name. What should I do now. I have seeds left. Is it too late to try again?

Don't see that its too late at all. You could pre-germinate seed on damp kitchen roll and then plant the ones that do germinate.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

French Beans need to have quite deep pots, and they don't really like being transplanted (that is assuming they have germinated I do mine in paper pots or toilet rolls. water the compost when you put the seed in, then not again till they have germinated...don't drown em!

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

I would definatey recommend the toilet rolls-half of mine have just been planted out today - other have only just breaking soil so definatey don't think it's too late

Funny that, I was going to sow mine in the lottie today but decided it was a bit too EARLY!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

It sounds as though you could have a kind of seed beetle. Exactly the same thing happened to me the other year, not one came through so I did a bit of investigating. Tipping the pot over I moved the compost away from the seed, most of which was missing but there were dozens and dozens of tiny weeny grey things whizzing in and around the seed. I was advised to use sterilised compost, but if the seeds are already infected then this won't help any. I'd germinate them on a couple of layers of damp kitchen paper and see how they do. I think the ones you are talking about are called 'Purple TeePee'. I grew them last year and they were great, good luck!
Eden

'Purple queen' are another variety. How old are the seeds? -they don't store well. They like to get into a warm bed and rot easily. don't let them overheat either. I doubt that they have been eaten (esp. inside) and you'd see if mice had dug them up.

It is by no means too late to retry as snager says it is pehaps too early for outdoor sowing -although i always grow the PQ's first as they are tougher than most.

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Paul

You can sow french beans out in the garden or lottie until June, so it's not too late to start again. I soak all my large seeds (sweetcorn, beans, peas, etc) for 24 hours before sowing. This really seems to help. As has been said before, keep the compost warm (not hot) and moist (not wet). Good luck, germination has been erratic with a lot of things this year - my sweetcorn has been pathetic, but the beans have been fine and the tomatoes and chillies are going great guns.

Last year, did'nt get a single bean sorry, one up, obviously did something wrong, this year, same packet, grew them in a glass with a toilet roll, just like school, on the kitchen window ledge, 100% germination.

planted them in pots outside about 5-6 weeks ago, only just started growing proper, i believe i planted much too early, lesson learned, but realised the value of starting off in a glass n toilet roll,can see me doing it next year

I have mines in wee pots as there is no way I can put them out yet.

I have a 3 year old obsessed with them (calls them long peas) and if there aren't at least 10 germinating at once then all hell breaks loose. Clearly the actual process has yet to sink in. Fingers crossed that eventually transplanting the many thousands of seedlings will produce something for the wee fingers to pick or he will be put off producing his own veg for life.

C

Thanks very much everyone. I'll try the toilet roll thing I think. I'm germinating (well obviously not me personally!) in the conservatory and it does get really warm in there during the day when I'm at work and can't control the temperature. So, bog rolls in the garden for me. Yes, Purple TeePee, that's the one! My nephew used to insist that sweetcorn was lello peas and called sprouting broccoli 'tree'. We call it tree now, such a descriptive name.

we soaked some of our peas and beans in water with garlic to deter the mice did not fancy soaking them in parofin this seams to have worked we planted them stright out and all seam to have come up so far so good

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Some things in their natural state have the most VIVID colors
Dobby

I always soak first and I germinate the beans in the greenhouse. You do need to check the temperature doesn't get too high or you can cook 'em to death!

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Updated November 17th - The Big Dig

Dwarf beans need a minimum soil temperature of ten degrees C to germinate and planting a really early crop is always a bit hit and miss. They tend not to germinate all at once which can lead you to think that they wont come up. I have a tray of 40 beans germinating in pots now and the 'oldest one is about 100mm high with two large true leaves and the youngest one is just appearing. some havent appeared yet. Sow again and watch that night temperature. If its going below ten then put them in the shed etc.