Grow French/Dwarf beans from seed

SOIL

French (or Dwarf) beans will grow alright in most soils, as long as they are not too heavy or too acid.

Do not sow where beans have been grown in the previous year.

Dig in the autumn and add compost or well rotted manure. Add lime in the winter if necessary.

Rake over and prepare the site about 2 weeks before planned sowing, and at this time add a general purpose fertiliser.

SOWING

Mark rows out as required at 18" spacings. (successional sowings from May to the end of June will provide beans until October.

Sow the seed 2" deep and 4" apart in each row.

If an earlier crop is required, cover the rows with cloches in March, and sow the seed under them in early to mid April, removing the cloches in late May.

For a later crop, sow the seed as above in July, and cover the plants with cloches in September.

The seed WILL rot if the soil is too damp and/or cold.

PLANT CARE

Seedling need to be protected from slugs (and pigeons?). Hoe to keep weeds down while the plants are young.

Some support may be needed to prevent the plants from flopping over. This can be something like twiggy sticks(or even 2 foot flower sticks (green canes)) pushed in alongside the plants, or provide netting for the climbing varieties.

It is not necessary to spray the flowers to set them, but water will be needed when the pods start developing. This will ensure a longer harvest, so if the weather is very dry, supply frequent, regular, and copious amounts of water.

It may be possible to get a second crop from your plants, if you mulch them in June, and apply a liquid fertiliser when the first crop has ended.

HARVESTING

Start picking the pods when they get to 4-5" long. Gently bend a pod, and if it snaps, they are ready for picking. Try to pick them before you see signs of the beans inside swelling, and pick regularly, as any pods left to mature will stop production. You should be able to harvest from each sowing for 5 to 7 weeks.

Be careful when pulling the pods from the plants, as you may break the main stem, or even uproot the plant. Maybe a pair of scissors would be useful here?

SOME FACTS

Seeds should germinate in around 7 to 14 days.

1 ounce of seed should be enough for a 20 foot row.

This is approximately 60 seeds.

From bush varieties expect to harvest about 14 pounds of pods from a 20 foot row.

From climbing varieties expect to harvest around 20 pounds of pods from a 20 foot row.

From sowing to harvest, expect about 10 to 12 weeks.

Grow Broad Beans from seed

Aquadulce Claudia and The Sutton

Can be sown in NOVEMBER for a crop which will be ready for harvesting in JUNE. There can however be problems if the winter is severe, so if you want an early crop, it may be better to sow under cloches in FEBRUARY. Although it may be that autumn sowing avoids the dreaded blackfly.
Other varieties are normally sown from the beginning of MARCH, and then succussionally at 4 week interval until the end of MAY. This should providea crop from late JUNE until early SEPTEMBER, and possibly up to OCTOBER.

SOIL

Broad Beans prefer a rich, well drained soil, but good results can be achieved if the soil is neither waterlogged or to acid, regardless of type. If necessary soil can have LIME added in winter

Do not grow your broad beans where beans have been grown in the previous year. Pick a reasonably sunny spot, and dig in the autumn adding compost or well rotted manure if necessary. Lime in winter, and 1 week before sowing, rake in a general purpose fertiliser.

SOWING

Firstly, avoid sowing seed with small holes in.

Mark out 2 rows, 8" apart, and with a dibber, make holes every 8", and 2" deep, staggering in each side of the double row. Drop 1 or 2 seeds in each hole, and cover with soil.

If another double row is to be sown, leave a 24" gap between each set of double rows, and so on. This is also done for successional sowings.

PLANT CARE

Regular hoeing will be needed to eliminate weeds during early growth, but not much watering will be necessary (unless the weather is exceptionally dry) before the flowers appear.

However, if the weather is very dry when the pods start growing, then regular (and lots of) watering will be necessary

For the taller varieties (ie not dwarf), it would be best to provide support for each double row. Place stout stakes at each corner of the double row,(and midway along if the row is long) and tie strings around them at 10-12" intervals vertically.

As soon as the first pods appear (at which time there should be 4 trusses of flowers), pich out the top 3-4" of the stem. This should give an earlier harvest, and hopefully provide somecontrol over blackfly.

If blackfly do become a problem, then you must spray (whatever your method of insect control)to keep the infestation under control.

When cropping is over, dig the plants i to provide extra green manuring.

HARVESTING

I you like the whole pods cooked, then start picking when they are about 2-3" long.

For shelling beans, they are ready when the beans separate from the pod and have a green/white scar. If the scar is black, the bean will be tough.

SOME FACTS

Seeds should germinate in 7-14 days

4 ounces of seed shoud be enough for a 20 foot double row

This is around 60 seeds

From an autumn sowing expect around 26 weeks to harvest

From spring sowings expect around 14 weeks from each sowing to harvest

You could expect to get atround 40 pounds of pods from a 20 foot double row.