Broad bean help needed.

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Jonajo

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #15 on: February 26, 2011, 15:21 »
I sowed a double row of them the other day straight into the ground - the soil is pretty dry, light and very workable. I did similar last year around the end of Feb and they were fine.

I helped a friend sow his broad beans last year into his heavy soil, but earlier - around the end of Jan - we simply dug a couple of bags of compost into it to loosen it up and they worked fine.
"Set down the wine and the dice and perish the thought of tomorrow"

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Kristen

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #16 on: February 26, 2011, 15:22 »
P.S. Depends a bit on variety - not all are as hardy as the others - see back of packet for details, I sow Aquadulce which are about the hardiest you can get I think

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shokkyy

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #17 on: February 26, 2011, 17:46 »
I don't really have a good basis for comparison because I've never done broad beans before. The ones I'm doing are Imperial Green Longpod and Witkiem Manita - anybody know how hardy they are? The packet does say sow outdoors Feb or Mar, but then packets often say to sow things very early.

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Kristen

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #18 on: February 26, 2011, 18:37 »
Not familiar with either variety, but I think if it was as hardy as Aquadulce the packet would suggest Autumn planting as well.

We're pretty much out of February without snow and severe cold, so I don't think you are going to have a problem in a draughty greenhouse ...

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radiohead

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #19 on: February 26, 2011, 20:36 »
Last year I started some off in toilet tubes and sowed some direct at the same time(mid march) that the toilet tube plants went out at about 4" tall.......in terms of cropping the difference was a matter of days.....I'm not going to bother starting any off early this year,just sow them direct as soon as the saturated ground here dries up a bit.

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Kristen

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #20 on: February 27, 2011, 06:53 »
Last year I started some off in toilet tubes and sowed some direct at the same time(mid march) ... cropping difference was a matter of days

Starting them off in pots is not going to speed them up, per se, its starting them early that does that - or am I missing something?

We are a couple of weeks from mid-March (Hooray!) but starting now in pots would gain two weeks (albeit probably not start cropping much earlier) compared to sowing outside in mid March, and some people will have started them in pots back in January

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radiohead

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #21 on: February 27, 2011, 07:46 »
Last year I started some off in toilet tubes and sowed some direct at the same time(mid march) ... cropping difference was a matter of days

Starting them off in pots is not going to speed them up, per se, its starting them early that does that - or am I missing something?

We are a couple of weeks from mid-March (Hooray!) but starting now in pots would gain two weeks (albeit probably not start cropping much earlier) compared to sowing outside in mid March, and some people will have started them in pots back in January

Sorry,perhaps I wasnt very clear....the ones in toilet tubes were started in early feb, and were 4" tall when planted out at the same time as a row of seeds were sown direct. The seeds pretty much caught up the toilet tube plants and there was only a matter of days between the crops.

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Kristen

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #22 on: February 27, 2011, 18:10 »
Ah, sorry, I misunderstood.

I was thinking that I would plant a couple of seeds on the end of the row when I plant mine out to see what the difference between the two is (although I started mine in mid January, so there might be a bit more difference).  But if the difference is "days" I agree that there is no point.

Folk are always saying "Those sown later catch up" but I think it would be more convincing if there was a side-by-side trial. Not sure that I have time to perform a full double-blind trial, but two seeds on the end of the row won't be hard (I'd prefer a couple sown at fortnight intervals, in pots, and then all of them recorded for sow-to-first-harvest duration - that might make the case that sowing from 7-Jan to 21-Jan gives a week or two over a mid-March sowing, but after that its a matter of days - folk who missed the "sweet spot" for indoor sowing would then be well advised to do nothing until the outdoor sowing period :)

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radiohead

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #23 on: February 27, 2011, 19:46 »
A more "scientific" trial would be interesting,kindly let us know how it goes!.....my feeling at the time was that the toilet tube plants suffered a planting out shock,despite minimal disturbance and careful hardening off,and were pretty much static for a couple of weeks.Whereas those sown direct were away as soon as they germinated.

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shokkyy

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Re: Broad bean help needed.
« Reply #24 on: February 27, 2011, 21:32 »
Folk are always saying "Those sown later catch up" but I think it would be more convincing if there was a side-by-side trial.

Yes, I always wondered the same thing, so last year I tried it with tomato plants. Some I started off indoors in February, and some I sowed into a pot in a cold greenhouse in May. The later sown plants did catch up and I'd say overtook the indoor sown plants. The two batches of plants cropped at about the same time but the outdoor sown plants just seemed stronger and healthier plants.


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