[rictic]

Hello all.

About 6 weeks ago I planted about 20 french runner beans, only 2 have actually produced secondary leaves all the rest have lost thier initial leaves and I am left with a few spikes!  The seeds are from a new pack and have been planted in clean yoghurt pots in a greenhouse.  Any ideas what has gone wrong.

Keep on keeping on.

Rictic.

[Livinhope]

I too planted about 50 French beans in pots.  Half rotted and the rest I keep delaying planting out because they are an embarassment.  I haven't a clue what went wrong because the runners are beautiful. Was it too cold and because they didn't germinate they just gave up.  I don't know but I've got a few seeds left which I am going to try straight into the ground just to see what happens.

[tam]

My french beans (from digin) have been sat there for a week or so with the first set of (slightly wrinkly looking) true leaves doing nothing. The runner beans sown the same time are about 18" and growing. I was going to ask if that was normal for french beans as they seem a bit pathetic looking - seems like mine aren't the only ones.

[mumofstig]

french beans are very tender plants and even in the greenhouse they have not been growing well.....Lesson is do not plant too soon..........sometimes you get away with planting a bit early, but not this year, it's simply been too cold for them

[kermit]

Yea, I plonked for 100% french beans this year and no runners.  Beginning to regret it - last year my runners were so easy to germinate and were rocketing away by now.  Only a few of my pre-chitted and direct sown beans (1-2 weeks ago) are pocking through.  think I'll sow some runners in pots as stand-bys.

[plot6b]

french beans are very tender plants and even in the greenhouse they have not been growing well.....Lesson is do not plant too soon..........sometimes you get away with planting a bit early, but not this year, it's simply been too cold for them

I totaly agree MoS. It's been the same for me.

[whistler]

"Hello all.

About 6 weeks ago I planted about 20 french runner beans, only 2 have actually produced secondary leaves all the rest have lost thier initial leaves and I am left with a few spikes!  The seeds are from a new pack and have been planted in clean yoghurt pots in a greenhouse.  Any ideas what has gone wrong.

Keep on keeping on.

Rictic."

Slugs?

[noshed]

Stating the obvious, french beans and runner beans are different. But they need approximately the same treatment, the main thing is they don't like the cold.
Ones sown now will be fine and will catch up.
Your ones in pots have probably been munched by slugs, I know mine have.

[cooperman]

one think you must take into account is that after the prolonged hard winter the ground is still cold and has not really warmed up yet!  So outside planting is a bit problamatic - french & runners need a warm spell to get going - several "early birds" on my allotment site have caught a real cold this year and planted out way too early - all the time and effort they put in to get their plants in early has all been in vein, they all died in the last heavy frost we had last week!!  I never ever plant out beans until the end of May its a total waste of time otherwise...

[Salmo]

Most of my french beans have been fine grown in modules on the window cill and were planted out yesterday.

However 3 plants, in adjacent modules, opened up their seed leaves to reveal not healthy leaves trying to push out but tiny leaves 2mm long which never came to anything.

I have seen this before. Does anyone know the cause?

[bigben]

Salmo I had a similar experience with about a fifth of mine producing tiny leaves while the rest seemed ok. I did use seeds that were on their use by date June 2010. So thought this might explain it. I also had a lower germination than last year.

[madcat]

Mine are doing fine (chitted and planted out) but I have learnt from last year.  I don't have a green house, have lots of slugs, rabbits and stooopid pigeons and want a lot of beans so I have had to think a bit differently.  They have a wrapping round the lot of them of fleece to keep them warm and out the wind; pigeon scarers above and round; there are slug pellets inside the wrap (the birds and beasties cant pick up the dead slugs from in there) and I'm watering generously in the mornings so as not to tempt the slugs out overnight - which isn't fun as a) I hate mornings and b) they are in a fluffy warm coldiz.

Would any of those ideas help? 

[bigben]

Madcat - you could get them started in paper tubes on a windowsil or in a porch and when they get to a decent size them plant them. I have mine outside on a plastic table 3 foot above where the slugs usually go, once they start to show they are ready to climb I plant them out so they have a better chance of fending off the slugs. I also tend to grow 3 to a cane on the basis that one or two to a cane will do me. That said I only grow 10 canes worth (30) plants. If your like some of the guys on my site they seem to want to grow masses. In which case you might be better sowing direct and using lots of slug pellets.

[madcat]

I literally don't have the window sills either - they are full of courgettes and squashes and ......   I do do 2 to a munti string ....  but murphy's law does tend to kick in.  Either both or neither survive!     Chitting and sowing direct suits, but it is the wildlife ....     and the weather    

never dull this gardening!

[Digger Tom]

 I planted 20 seeds individualy into 3" pots about 6 weeks ago. Kepst on a south facing windowsill they have gone mad. They all germinated & have now been getting hardened off for about 2 weeks. They are all well over 8" tall some aproaching a foot.

 Planing to plant them out this weekend.

 

 ps the small pots are some sweetcorns that also seem to be doing ok.