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Beans

pclark42pclark42 Posts: 186
in Fruit & veg
I have 2 questions relating to growing from seed or in the case of the bean a bean pod. I have just returned from a garden centre and they have  some runner bean plants for sale, they are multi-sown in a small pot, 5cm x 5cm with about 6 beans. The thing i noticed was that the bean pods are on the surface of the compost, or only covered half way, now on all the packets of purchased beans they tell you to cover with 2.5 cm of compost? any answers to this? and my next one is how do the professional growers get them started so early, I have been growing stuff on my living room window cill since early February, and they are still not very big, do they use additives to the growing compost?
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  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I plant 1 seed in a 3" pot and push the seed at least 1" below the surface.
    They soon germinate.
    But they are very tender plants and any amount of frost will kill them.
    It's too early for them atm.
    I sow mine in (dwarf French and runner beans) in May

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • pclark42pclark42 Posts: 186
    Thanks Pete, but that doesn't answer the question, the ones I saw today were growing on the surface 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    That’s what beans do,  the root comes out first and goes down into the compost,  then the shoot will come up,  the actual bean is of no use then.
    I would advise you not to buy them though,   you can’t plant them out until end of May at least and they be too tall to fit into your house by then.  You’d do better to buy some beans and sow them yourself,  one to each module/pot root trainer, toilet roll middle, whatever you choose.
    Sow during May plant out in June. 
    Firestorm is a good one as it drought resistant and self pollinating, although they will need watering😉
    One of the easiest plants to grow. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • pclark42pclark42 Posts: 186
    Thanks, I grow lots of beans and i agree far too early yet, but I was intrigued as to why they were on the surface, A few weeks ago I dropped a broad beans pack on the greenhouse floor, some of the beans flew under the bench, i wasn't getting onto my knees, last week i was on my knees, and the beans had propagated , I put them into pots, now they are 18 inch tall.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    One of my friends always germinates his beans between sheets of wet kitchen paper.
    As they sprout he puts them into pots.

    If there's enough moisture and the temperature is right they'll sprout irrespective of where they are. The seed itself has enough nutrients to get the plant to the stage when it will have its own true leaves and roots and it can feed itself.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • pclark42pclark42 Posts: 186
    I did that with peas this year, they are in the ground now doing well
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    The two halves of the bean seed often seem to be pushed out of the compost once the seedling grows.  Is that what you're seeing in the garden centre?
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • pclark42pclark42 Posts: 186
    Liriodendron

    Yes precisely and on the surface, so I am thinking you really don't have to bury them at all. I have been in the greenhouse and I have set up an experiment.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    We used to grow them in a jam jar with blotting paper at school. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • pclark42pclark42 Posts: 186
    This year put peas in compost, but also on damp kitchen paper, the ones on the paper began to shoot within days, and in 7 days they were large enough to put into pots, some of the roots were a little strange, but they had good green growth, also when you do them on kitchen paper you can pick out the ones that don't germinate, and dispose of them, rather than waiting and watching the ones buried in compost. I did a trial and found that the ones that started on the paper grew faster, and the ones I put into pots were much weaker. So much so that the paper-grown ones are now doing well in the garden, whereas the ones in pots are still not really large enough to go outside yet
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