Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: maxie on February 22, 2013, 11:50
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Ive give up with these as im in cold wet and windy cumbria and they havent cropped well for 2 or 3 years,i usually grow cobra.
What i was wondering does anyone use a different variety that crops better in the bad summers weve been getting,although ive been getting good crops from dwarfs.
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I grew Blauhilde Purple last year and had a great crop.
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BLue lake was very good last year.
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Yes it does seem that the purple varieties are more weather resistant.
For the last 3 years they've cropped well on my wind blown site when Cobra has failed completely
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The purple ones faired pretty well on our more northerly and certainly windy, coastal site here last year. :)
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I grew Cosse Violette (purple) last year and they were great. Even the ones that grew quite large were not stringy and cropped much better than my Blue Lake. :)
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Premier-Seeds-Direct/Beans-/_i.html?_fsub=9717829&_sid=79364908&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322 (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Premier-Seeds-Direct/Beans-/_i.html?_fsub=9717829&_sid=79364908&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322)
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Oh dear! I've just received my Cobra seeds from DTB to try out for the first time. Here's hoping for a better year then.
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I got a better yield from the purple climbing ones than I did the green ones. Infact the yellow climbing yellow ones did better than the green ones.
I've gone for the Cossee Violette this year as last year as they seem to do well for everyone else.
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Climbing french bean 'Isabel' has done well with me for the last 2 years.
Growing them this year too.
They are fairly disease resistant and coped well with the wet summer the last 2 years.
I don't bother growing them in pots to start with, they work really well going straight in the ground late april/may time. :)
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ive got cobra...hopefully down here in the balmy west country they will be ok..did fine last year...its seems about minus 5 at the moment :)
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Looks like ill be trying a purple variety this year then :) thanks for the advice.
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I've always had good results with cobra, except for in the awful weather last year.
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I've tried Cobra a couple of times and have never done well with them. Last year I grew Blauhilde and Cosse Violette and both did very well, gave me huge crops and stood up very well to the horrible weather. I've still got loads in my freezer and dehydrated in jars.
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Yana: I got a better yield from the purple climbing ones than I did the green ones
Tis what I've been saying for the last 3 years :lol:
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I grew Cosse Violette (purple) last year and they were great. Even the ones that grew quite large were not stringy and cropped much better than my Blue Lake. :)
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Premier-Seeds-Direct/Beans-/_i.html?_fsub=9717829&_sid=79364908&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322 (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Premier-Seeds-Direct/Beans-/_i.html?_fsub=9717829&_sid=79364908&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322)
Thanks for that link im gonna be ordering from them i think.
I do like the french beans much more than the runners,lightly cooked with just a tiny bit of bite,bootiful, so lets hope for a good crop.
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I just got my packet of Cosse Violette through the post today :)
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I've always had good results with cobra, except for in the awful weather last year.
That's good to hear Yorkie. I'm in the same neck of the woods as you so fingers crossed for better weather.
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Ive give up with these as im in cold wet and windy cumbria and they havent cropped well for 2 or 3 years,i usually grow cobra.
What i was wondering does anyone use a different variety that crops better in the bad summers weve been getting,although ive been getting good crops from dwarfs.
Maxie, it's wet and windy in Carlisle too but I've never failed to get a good crop from Cobra; even last year!
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I got a crop off Cossee Violette last year. Blue Lake, Yard long and Trail of Tears all failed.
I sowed BL three times, including one batch started off in the greenhouse. The wind shredded them on the plot.
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Ive give up with these as im in cold wet and windy cumbria and they havent cropped well for 2 or 3 years,i usually grow cobra.
What i was wondering does anyone use a different variety that crops better in the bad summers weve been getting,although ive been getting good crops from dwarfs.
Maxie, it's wet and windy in Carlisle too but I've never failed to get a good crop from Cobra; even last year!
I used to get great crops alan but the last three have been a waste of time its the purple ones for me this year.
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I've always done okay with Cobra in wet and windy Lancashire. Germination can be tricky but if you start them off inside and then harden them off and put them in during a settled spell of weather they cope fine. I will have a look at Blauhilde this year though. Blue Lake didn't do well for me last year - couldn't cope with the wind.
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Ah, I understand what the problem is now. Germination! I always start mine off in fibre pots in the greenhouse and plant out in late May
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I start mine off in the propagator wrapped in damp tissue paper in a plastic container (cardboard underneath so they don't cook). Then I pot them on. Always seems to do well for me... :)
I've never had any luck with the fibre pots Alan, they dry out so quickly and never seem to break down properly. :(
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Good grief!
I can't understand why people mess about with pots and propagators for things like beans!
Cat litter tray.
Bung them in.
Let them grow.
Harden off.
Plant out.
Why make heavy work of growing a simple crop? :lol:
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I always chit my beans (as well as sweetcorn) cos a lot of'em seem to rot rather than germinate.
That way I know which ones to grow on ;)
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Its not germination or anything like that im struggling with cobra,i put the french bean plants in at the same time as the runners,the runners grew away and cropped well,whereas the french sat there and sulked for a while,then grew away slowly and i only got a few beans off them.
In a good summer they are no problem,but the last two or three theyve been very poor.
So id be a fool to struggle on with cobra,i was all set for only growing runners despite preferring french so the recommended varieties have got to be worth a go.
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As I said earlier - not fussy - stick
em' in the ground and watch what grows! :D
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Good grief!
I can't understand why people mess about with pots and propagators for things like beans!
Why make heavy work of growing a simple crop? :lol:
Several reasons:
1 Almost guaranteed 100% germination
2 No loss to mice and slugs
3 Gets them off to a flying start and earlier than straight into the ground
4 I built a large heated propagator so there is plenty of room in it to indulge myself :tongue2: