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At the end of last years season I had a few bean pods left on the remains of my outdoor runner beans. I took most of the old plants down but for curiosity & nature reasons I left the last few plants intact overwinter to see what would happen to the plants and beans as the seasons changed and what would eat them.
To my surprise, the very large fat beans have hung on safely wrapped in their dried up pods up on the plants for the whole winter, through frosts, rain and wind. The last week or so I have started to find the odd very fat, fully moist bean seed apparently perfect and healthy, now landing on the ground. The majority are still in the dried out pods up on the plants.
I thought I would plant these moist overwintered seeds up in pots and see what happens / see if any grow despite the damp 'storage' and frosts.
I am wondering how they will compare to the samples from the same range of plants which I took indoors and dried for seed - If they grow, will they be faster or healthier/weaker than the dry stored seed?
Anyone else successfully tried growing runner or other bean seeds 'stored' outdoors on the plant in this way?
To my surprise, the very large fat beans have hung on safely wrapped in their dried up pods up on the plants for the whole winter, through frosts, rain and wind. The last week or so I have started to find the odd very fat, fully moist bean seed apparently perfect and healthy, now landing on the ground. The majority are still in the dried out pods up on the plants.
I thought I would plant these moist overwintered seeds up in pots and see what happens / see if any grow despite the damp 'storage' and frosts.
I am wondering how they will compare to the samples from the same range of plants which I took indoors and dried for seed - If they grow, will they be faster or healthier/weaker than the dry stored seed?
Anyone else successfully tried growing runner or other bean seeds 'stored' outdoors on the plant in this way?
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