French Dwarf Beans in Window Box

[veg4681]

After hearing good reports that dwarf French beans grow better in pots, would anybody object to window boxes ? I mean they need only spacing of 2"-4" apart, that's about 6-12 beans in a 24" long window box. Will somebody TELL ME OFF that this isn't practical!

[sez]

They do grow well in pots however they do also get quite big despite being 'dwarf' (I always put short canes in for support), i can't think how you'd support them in a window box?

[Hazel at the Hill]

Yep - perfectly do-able!

I'd query your spacings though - I'd put half a dozen in the window box and of course make sure they're well fed & watered.

I reckon they grow to about 18"-2 foot high, so if it is a bit blowy, a cane for each one wouldn't go amiss.

[Flummery]

I grew french beans in a window box for my granddaughter last year. She took the box home and they grew in her sheltered courtyard garden - so they didn't need any support. I had a 2ft box and planted about half a dozen per side. They had a good crop.

[veg4681]

Thanks for all your reassuring replies, sounds like it's plausible . I'll do a trial with 4-5 different bush bean varieties in a window box and start them off early in the greenhouse for an early crop. If they don't grow well, at least there will still be enough opportunity to do later sowings in bigger pots.

[Two_Sheds]

I plant Purple Queen at a distance of 2 inches apart - they support each other as they grow. Other varieties may need bigger distances though.

[Alison]

I grew peas in a window box last year, didn't need any support as they just tumbled down the sides of the box. Am guessing the beans would do the same. Very nice and a bit of a talking point. I had some nastursians in with them also for some added interest.

[veg4681]

I grew peas in a window box last year, didn't need any support as they just tumbled down the sides of the box. Am guessing the beans would do the same. Very nice and a bit of a talking point. I had some nastursians in with them also for some added interest.

Interesting point with the peas although mine would be mangetout (don't grow peas), I often wondered if you could just let them trail/sprawl down the sides of pots/boxes as I find making support for them fiddly/unworkable using canes and I'd like to avoid using chicken wires. How many peas did you manage to grow in one window box, I also happen to have tom thumb mixed nasturtiums .

It's only practical for me to grow mangetout at each end of my raised bed (for picking purposes) but beans have already used this space allocation last year. I think I'll have less problems with slugs munching away my mangetout too as window boxes are quite flat/stable enough for sitting on the roof of our big garden shed .

[Alison]

Not too sure how many but it was a few meals worth. I have window boxes along the length of our conservatory windows so it's quite a long length. Was running a bit short of time and just ended up shoving the seeds in with my finger and they came up great. This year I've sown alpine strawberries to put in so will have to see how they go - note that I wasn't organised enough to sort them over winter so the window boxes are looking very sorry for themselves!

[momol]

I haven't tried french beans in pots yet but did grow some mangetout Norli in pots last year (4 plants/10 litres pot) . They were bush too (reaching 60cm) but can grow pretty wide. If the bush mangetout can be pot grown, so can the bush french beans but I am not very sure with the 2" to 4" spacing, give it some more as pot grown (window box) means their root can't go that deep plus such limited space won't help them with nutrient and space to grow.

[Sirius]

We grew mangetout last year, both inside and outside the greenhouse. What we found easiest was just to run a few bits of string across the back. As the mangetout grow, feed the stems in behind the string and it hold them gently in place - always made sure that the string wasn't 'tight', just enough to hold them. We had a huge crop of mangetout last year, our first year of growing anything, and it boosted me to go for it this year

[Alison]

Now I come to think about it, I also had some mange tout in a hanging basket by the back door, not a massive crop as only a few plants but very pretty and good to add to stir fries.