Please help me!!!!!

[brianm1973]

Hi all,

I'm after some advice, I recently started off some Dwarf Beans in a seed tray, one to each little section, in my little plastic greenhouse. They took a little while to get going but they then took off, i'm sure i could see them growing while i watched them!! Anyway, i decided in my infinite wisdom to plant them out in the garden. I had dug out a small patch out of the side of the lawn. The wife wasn't overly impresssed, but it's done now!!

Well, they now look quite poorly!!! Very withered and not very healthy!

Where have I gone wrong? Have I planted them out too early? Should I not have planted them straight out from the greenhouse?

I'm at a loss what to do, i'm tempted to cut my losses and try again. Are they likely to come back to life? I have tried covering them with a spare plant pot to try and give them a bit of cover, dont know if it going to work, i'm scared to look!!!

I've also got some beetroots on the go, i'm planning on putting them into an old storage box we found whilst tidying up the kids bedroom, it's about 10" x 14" and about 8" deep, would it work to put a couple of my new dwarf beans in there surrounded by beetroot? Just a thought.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Brian.

[zazen999]

Probably wind burn....as it's been so windy!

Difficult to say without a photo - but I'd pop a clear cloche over them and see how they go, and sow some more anyway for a later crop.

I'd stick the beets in the tray and keep the beans separate as they do have deep roots, do beans.

[scarey55]

It doesn't sound as if you've hardened them off. Plants that are started in a greenhouse need to get used to being outside and they need at least a week outside during the day and inside at night before they are "hard" enough to go outside. They also get a bit of a shock from being planted out anyway. They need light to grow too so rather than covering them with a plant pot, try using an old pop bottle with the bottom cut off as a cloche. I don't know if they will survive but, plants basically want to grow so I'd give them a bit of tlc and see how they get on. Good luck

[Florence Fennel]

Follow the advice that's been given above Brian and you'll not go far wrong. If the beans fail, try again, it's not too late to sow some more. Good luck.

[Two_Sheds]

Not hardening off is the problem, as has been pointed out by the sages above.

Put the plants outside daytimes, then back in the gh at night, for a week before you plant them out permanently

... and even though I hardened my Frenchies off properly, the wind still frazzled them: wind burn | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Flummery]

It's a shock to their little systems. Bless them. It's not too late to plant them directly into the soil now though. Good luck!

[gojiberry]

French beans are very temperamental and don't like a change in growing environment. As said sow direct this time of year.

Ian