[hogwarden]

I fancy a try this year direct into a seed bed- and ask is it best to leave it until November so the plants don`t get too big to withstand the cold?-what`s ideal ,-to get them to germinate and then go partly dormant and then kick off again in the spring,-or what?

Do you need to put cloches over them during the winter months or are they hardy enough like overwintering onions? -fleece or poly??

I have `The Sutton` to sow.--thanks in advance

[sunshineband]

Your timing sounds right, and they should be really hardy.

The Sutton is short vareity recommended for over wintering, so you should be OK.

Having said that, there are often losses regardless, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Sometimes mine are OK, last year lost nearly all of them. (Onions were all fine though  )

Some light protection such as fleece might help a bit. You don't want to start them inot grwoing again until the spring though

[radiohead]

I've not sown direct in autumn before,but sow direct in early spring. I have noticed that other plotholders who do sow in autumn dont seem to be picking beans more than a couple of weeks earlier than my spring sowings,and that their rows are often a little patchy due to winter losses.
I think if I was going to try an autumn sowing I would definately use cloches or fleece...much more likely to be worthwhile then.

[chrisnchris]

I sowed ours last October the variety was Aquadulce we only had one or two failures out of 40 or so sown.

They were sown directly into the soil which hadn't been particularly well prepared, & our soil is pretty poor   I covered the area with a fine netting, about 15mm mesh, to keep the squirrels off germination was quite quick. The area is against a south facing fence, so plenty of sun & a bit of protection.

The netting was supported on canes so it could be raised as the plants grew. You might cane the area anyway & make a string grid to provide support for the plants as they grow.

The plants became dormant over winter & were covered with snow for a couple of weeks, they had no protection from cloches or the like.

The crop was plentiful & sweet, no doubt if I had prepared the ground more thoroughly & fed more frequently it would have been greater.

Hope that helps

Chris

[Salmo]

Late October/early November is about right for my area but I have no idea where you are so this advice may be rubbish.

Most overwintering losses are due to plants being too soft going into Winter. You just want the first leaves above ground.

Mice can steal the lot. Plant them good and deep and firm the soil.

[sunshineband]

Funny thing happened after I said I wasn't sowing any autumn bbs --- found some germinating through the hard pan at th edge of our communal dump.

Poured abottle of water over them to soak the ground and prised them out. They are now ensconced on my plot, all ten of them   

Soft touch, me --- couldn't bear to see them suffer 

[chrisnchris]

Soft touch, me --- couldn't bear to see them suffer 

You're all heart, lets hope they repay you 

[sunshineband]

Soft touch, me --- couldn't bear to see them suffer 

You're all heart, lets hope they repay you 

They were never going to crop where they were --- nothing ventured etc 

[aelf]

I hacked my broad beans back to ground level about 6 weeks ago after the harvest and the roots have put out new plants that are a foot high and covered in flowers. I'm not expecting a crop but don't have the heart to pull them up, they seem to be doing so well - will see what they do next year 

[Gandan57]

I shall be planting Aquadulce Claudia in two weeks time so they should be two or three inches high going through the winter. I didn`t grow them last year but other plotholders had good success without protection despite the weather last winter.

My neighbour sowed his far too early, in August, in pots in his greenhouse. He planted them out about three weeks ago and they are now a foot tall and in full flower.