[Steveharford]

Ok I've got a cunning plan. I've just pulled up my wizard beans which I have given up on because they just sat there all year with only small bean pods which I now realised was because I should have sown them in the autumn. The thing is the whole plant is still green. Amazing really. Anyway each plant still has numerous bean pods still attached so I am thinking I should save them for replanting. Do they have to be really dried out? As time is moving on now. I am thinking of hanging the plants upside down in the poly tunnel or shed for a while to help this process along. Is this likely to work or should I just purchase bigger beans that have been dried properly?

[barley]

hi steven

have dried and saved my own beans for many years - about 50% germinate and 50% don't

but hey can't go wrong as each plant is buck shee free and so are the pickings 

let them get as big and fat as possible - its amazing how much they shrink as they dry

[diospyros]

I have just cleared out my old seed box and popped four home-saved broad beans in a pot to see if they were still viable and all four germinated.  I last grew broad beans in about 2006.

But yes they do need to be dried out or they will go mouldy in storage, but putting them in a paper bag will let them breathe.  The pods should be dry and crunchy so the beans fall out easily.  I'm puzzled though how not sowing the beans in autumn could have made them fail to do what you wanted?  What were you hoping for?  i'm not familiar with wizard beans.

[Steveharford]

What I was hoping for is the beans to swell up to a decent eating size. This didn't happen except with a few of them. It was suggested by someone on here that they should be sown in the autumn and they aren't too keen on the heat of summer. Good point about the mould. I will watch out for that.

[LilacSandy]

If you are going to sow them in a few weeks then there is no need to dry them out, just sow them when they are ready when the pods are dry and the beans are falling out.  Try a couple in wet tissue paper in a plastic bag for several days to see if they sprout.  If you think about it,  the beans naturally fall to the floor and then begin to sprout, we only dry them as normally most beans in this country will not survive the winter in the ground.

[Steveharford]

Thanks Sandy. I have been thinking along those lines and wondering if I am being too concerned about it as I will be planting them within the next month or two anyway, not storing them for next year.

[Salmo]

Thanks Sandy. I have been thinking along those lines and wondering if I am being too concerned about it as I will be planting them within the next month or two anyway, not storing them for next year.

I have looked up Wizard. They appear to be field beans grown for animal feed which is why they are small. I doubt if they taste good but may be alright in soups and stews. Grow them as you would broad beans.
http://www.harlow-ag.co.uk/downloads/Wizard.pdf

[New shoot]

They taste the same as normal broad beans, but you are right, the pods and beans are smaller.  You get loads of pods though and so the yield is very high for the space they take.

One of the main advantages of them for me is that they overwintered last year with no protection at all, whereas the broad beans were a dead loss.  I'm planning to sow loads this October 

[moose]

Real Seeds sell them as an edible crop and highlight that they are very hardy. Does not mean you can't sow at other times.

[Sparkyrog]

They have sold out 

[New shoot]

The new catalogue comes out in November so you could get some for an early sowing next year.  Quite a few people sell it as a green manure as well, so you should still be able to get seeds online somewhere 

[moose]

Tuckers seeds still have them.

[Sparkyrog]

Thanks 

[Totty]

Fresh ones will be fine to sow, so long as they are fully developed. I have been saving seed from an excellent strain of runner beans for a couple of years. This year I let one bean fully develop on my best plant, and replanted the seeds straight away. I now have the best five plants growing in a greenhouse setting beans, so improving the strain twice as fast.

Totty

[Steveharford]

Do the better plants come from bigger bean seeds like garlic or does it not matter too much with broads.