[rhysdad]

My Aquadulce (yes i know they are an Autumn variety!) are now two inches above the root trainer cells and looking very feisty, Would it be okay to pop them in the lotty now and what's their frost tolerance like? ( i think it's okay for BB, just all the other beans which object to being frozen  ) I have fleece standing by......

[DD.]

Mine went in as plants, (same variety) a few weeks ago.

They stand the cold - but some of them not as much as last winter! You should be safe now, even without fleece.

[rhysdad]

Mine went in as plants, (same variety) a few weeks ago.

They stand the cold - but some of them not as much as last winter! You should be safe now, even without fleece.

Great, thanks DD. I also have some 'The Sutton' which 'New Shoot' kindly sent me. Can i sow these direct alongside the Aqua's?

[Nicki85]

I'm putting mine out this weekend, I grew Aquaducle too!  Can you bury a bit of the stem to strengthen them up a bit or is that a no-no with broad beans?

[DD.]

Firstly - let's get this right. I'm not a broad bean expert - this is the first year I've sown for myself as we're not particularly fond of them. I'm sure the ones I've sown will be different!

I'm sure broad beans won't mind be planted a little deeper & if I recall correctly - The Sutton are an early bean - so I'd get them in.

[Aunt Sally]

I watched a TV programme recently where a market gardener was sowing his broad beans.  He used a dibber to plant the bean about 5 inches deep.  He trod the soil down afterwards 

So I've done the same this year - I'll let you know if they grow 

[Aidy]

The best fail safe method I came across was by a little known welshman called Terry Walton, since I heard his method on his podcast several years ago I have used it with great success.
First, pop around 12 seeds in a small bag filled with a little damp compost.
pop them into a nice warm dark place, after 5 days check, look for the spruts appearing, then check everyday there after.
Dib your hole (2 inch deep) and pop your bean into this with the sprut pointing down,
cover and wait.
The beauty about this method is you know your only planting a live bean, those that dont sprut are for the bin.
I dont think there would be any issues with cross pollination if thats what your thinking about sowing different varities.
For the record, I only grow Sutton, its a fantastic bean, get them early and they really are very sweet.

[8doubles]

I put half my 4" high beans in the ground under fleece and left the rest in the insulated but unheated greenhouse for a few more days .
We had a really hard frost and the ones in the ground were untouched but the greenhouse ones sagged a bit but stood back up after a couple of hours.
My advice is to get them out ASAP as the roots on the later batch were already circling inside the 4" pot.

[mumofstig]

Planted my Aquadulce today, cos the roots were trying to escape from the pots
I've been hardening them off for a few days so I've given them no protection.

[Hampshire Hog]

watch out for slugs etc. Put my sutton down the plot under a cloche with pellets a couple of days later several had been nibbled at the base and fell over.

Not good but have popped in seeds beside damaged plants.

Oh well just crop a bit later

Cheers HH