[Endymion]

We've had a terrible time trying to get climbing French beans to germinate and as we've got the space we thought we'd try Borlotti or Borlotto beans instead. Never grown them before.

Is it worth trying now, or isn't there enough time for them to ripen?

[aqua]

as a novice and a few incidents - they grow well and are pretty

[Pompey Spud]

I grow borlotti beans all the time.

I find they need a long growing season especially if you want the beans to dry for use in stews etc.

Try dwarf french beans instead. I've just sown another line. They crop well in a small space.

[New shoot]

I've just planted out some dwarf borlotti but I'm expecting to use them as fresh beans as I don't think they will ripen to dry beans this summer now.

They germinate very fast so I would have a go and then plant them out under a cloche to speed them on.  Fresh borlotti cook really fast and are lovely in summer veg soups, salads, pasta sauces.............I love em 

[Quetzal]

i've grown them the last two years, and am a fan

Sarah Raven suggests that, unlike usual beans, they don't really like too fertile soil, and will grow best in a less well manured spot

[sunshineband]

So they would be ideal for sowing where you have just dug up potatoes then I suppose 

[Hampshire Hog]

I sowed some borlotti seeds this week in spaces freed up by other crops. I am crossing my fingers that they germinate well and are ok to eat fresh not dried. Sowed some earlier but the weather has been very erratic here very dry then cold winds neither french nor borlotti were impressed and just sulked!! 

My hope is that the current downpour will be followed by sun giving them a chance to grow rapidly.

Cheers HH

[Paul Plots]

It is the first time I've tried climbing borlotti beans. Mine went in last at the end of a frame full of all sorts.

They seem a little slow to get going this year.... but there again I am too so I guess it's to be expected.

I'm looking forward to something different. 

[Endymion]

We've got plenty of dwarf French beans, but space on canes/string we set up for runners, which are growing, and French climbers that didn't bother to germinate. The ground underneath is already planted up, so no space for dwarf varieties. 

Hadn't realised Borlottis could be eaten fresh, which is a bit dim because I know we Brits tend to use runners fresh while most continentals use them as dried beans. Maybe that's also to do with the length of time needed to get them to ripen?

Oh, and are they Borlotti or Borlotto? I've seen both spellings on packets and on the internet.

[Paul Plots]

If Shakespeare could get away with different spellings why shouldn’t we?

Borlotto Bean Lingua di Fuoco.... are they Italian?

If they are then ending in "i" is the plural and in "o" masculine.

Probably wrong but just a thought. 

[MoreWhisky]

Im growing french dwarf and borlotti beans up my munty frame together this yr.

[Paul Plots]

Im growing french dwarf and borlotti beans up my munty frame together this yr.

I'm trying to but things are a little slow off the mark. 

[Endymion]

Borlotto Bean Lingua di Fuoco.... are they Italian?

If they are then ending in "i" is the plural and in "o" masculine.

Probably wrong but just a thought. 

It makes sense.

Im growing french dwarf and borlotti beans up my munty frame together this yr.

Ours is the same sort of idea, using strings onto a framework of canes and netting. There are things already in the ground beneath it. Our beans are, to say the least, slow this year. All of them have been sown in the same make of compost, but the runners are the only ones that have germinated properly.