salad leaves in seed trays and beans in pots

[tweety]

Hi,

I have seen on Tv (gardner's world maybe) some salad leaves grown in seed trays (fully grown up to the cutting point)
would that really work ? I mean seed trays are quite shallow, would the plants have enough depth for the roots ? I'd like to try this as I am running out of pots but a little voice tells me this is not a good idea...

also I have sown some dwarf runner beans and dwarf french beans. I am not sure what size the plant will grow to and what size of pot I would need.
I have 2 square pots of about 30cm that I "reserved" for the french beans. the idea was to put 3 or 4 plants and a couple of sweet pea plants in each of them. Am I on the right track or is it too much ? I think I read somewhere people planting then at 5cm from each other but that seems far too close to the novice gardner that I am !
and for the runner beans (hestia) I have some round pots of 25cm. how many plant can I put in them ?

thanks.

[Bigmallly]

With regards to salad leaves, I have never grown them before this year & also had them bursting out of a seed tray, I pulled clumps out & put 4 clumps per square foot in one of my SFG bed as I couldn't be bothered seperating them all, hope I've done the right thing (sorry for raising the SFG again, but couldn't say owt else)........

[Wortle]

Lidls are selling trays done like this (99p grown for you), I thought they were supposed to be cut and come again but there isnt much come again with it.

[Helgalush]

I did some salad leaves in large module trays in my novice-not-really-understanding type style. Silly old me put in the whole packet and they were too overgrown and cramped, BUT they did come up a treat.

I currently have growing some Fristina lettuces in a shallow seed tray - they are just seedlings at the minute but I too am wondering whether they may need to be transplanted in to something bigger soon.

I too am growing Hestia beans for container growing...I think the 'recipe' says about three plants in one of those trough-shaped containers....mixed in with some dwarf sunflowers. In the book it looks really pretty so I hope it works.

Sorry have no advice, just generally musings!

[Currysniffa]

Hi

Last season I did dwarf french beans in 18" x18" square pots on my back garden, I had six canes in each pot in a wig-wam and one plant per cane, they did really well, harvest and they come again!! (keep well watered)

As for you salad leaves, cut and come again leaves will be fine, I did little gems as well but moved them in to there own pots with some rocket when they got to big for the seed trays.

This season I'm doing the same again with the salad leaves but now I have a allotment so my beans will be grown on there....

Good Luck

Chris

[tamsin]

I'm growing lettuce in trays. They are about the size of two seed trays but only a couple of cm deeper. Worked fine last year I grew cut n come again and small head lettuces (would probably have got bigger if we hadn't eaten them).

[murphy99]

I am trying lettuce in gravel trays I bought in Wilkinsons, they are a good size and I think a little deeper than seed trays. currently I have one with little gems in 3 rows, they have sprouted and will thin if I need to but I tried not to over plant.

A tray fits nicely on a shelf in a mini green house. I plan to stagger them, seeding a new tray every few weeks and hopefully keep a supply throughout the summer.

Its an experiment so no guarantees it will work

[Bren In Pots]

I grow mine in plastic window boxes I've got 3 of them perched on a horizontal ladder that's fastened to the garage wall. Not sure if its because of garage wall or the aluminium ladder but slugs don't seem to bother with the plants at all not like those planted in the rest of the garden.

[tweety]

Thanks all for your reply.
I'll definitely give those salad leaves in tray a go... it seems to have worked with some of you ;-)

Bren, I like the idea of using a ladder as shelved for plants...

[Bren In Pots]

Tweety here a photo of my salad bar the ladder keeps the slugs off but if I don't cover the troughs the birds would soon finish off the lot.

[tweety]

Tweety here a photo of my salad bar the ladder keeps the slugs off but if I don't cover the troughs the birds would soon finish off the lot.

Thanks for the photo...
the more time I spend here the more ideas I find to get more stuff growing in the garden... I suspect Mr Tweety will soon install a "parental control" on the computer !