Grow Your Own Wants Your Advice On.... Growing French Beans

[HeyWayne]

I think I grew Nomad last year (can't find the packet). Seemed easy enough, and tasted decent enough. I simply put a short piece of bamboo next to each plant and they seemed to do just fine.

[Two_Sheds]

I much prefer Frenchies to Runners - I eat a few fresh, but mostly save them for drying. As a veggie I get through a lotta beans!
My favourites for looks (dried) are: tiger, yin yang, barlotta, cherokee and ruth bible.
My favourites for eating fresh: black croatian, barlotta, blue lake.
The easiest to grow: yin yang, canadian wonder, black croatian, cherokee.
Wouldn't bother again with: sungold - though the slugs love them!
Barlotta and Tiger take a slightly longer growing season than most to get to the dried stage.
I am plagued by slugs, so have given up sowing direct. Even with a plastic cloche, because the beggars climb right inside it.
I have trialled various support systems for the climbers, and find a 4 pole wigwam is by far the strongest design. Bean netting is too flappy and just gets pulled down by the weight of the plants.
I always plant an upturned coke bottle by the bean, to water directly into the roots, and I mulch with well-rotted compost. Oh, and I put a little shredded paper in the planting hole to act as a sponge too, to hang onto water. They're thirsty plants!

[SueA]

I grew 'Delinel' dwarf french beans last year. I started them off in 3in pots in the kitchen & then moved them out to the mini plastic greenhouse to harden off before planting out into a large pot with a cane wigwam. They didn't crop very well but I think that was because they were alternately soaked by the rain & then too dry when I neglected to water them but I will give them another try this year as they were a pretty plant with nice size beans.

[cottage garden]

I feed mine a weekly dose of nettle tea (steeped nettles in a bucket) as the plants are growing and then comfrey tea as they are fruiting.

[multiveg]

I love cherokee trail of tears (though thinking about them now has me in tears as I had put some aside to give to SuperSprout, all wrapped up for Christmas 2006.... Didn't get the chance to give them to her....).
I talk to my seeds/plants!
Main problems I tend to have with most plants in general - the dreaded S-words (S**g and S***l) - vigilance, hunting, brutality....

[jc47]

I sow all my beans in paper tubes in a cold greenhouse, germination is usually within a week and they are then planted out the second week in June to avoid frosts. I've found it a waste of time to direct sow, which I put down to slugs eating the germinating shoots. I grow Montano dwarf beans, Blue Lake climbing french beans and Polastar runners. Also grow "sugar beans" given to me by an African friend, they are like a thin dwarf bean but grow 60cm. tall any very tasty.

[johnygreenfeet]

i grow climbing French beens cobra and blue lake and they seem to do best if you dig a been pit early winter and finish with grass cuttings as you wont be able to sow until late April the pit will help if you have a dry summer over sum years of growing and some tests i have found that if you sow the seed straight in the ground at the right temp they will out do any other way of planting the been seems suffer from root shock and temp change and after growing them in a green house and planting them out even as good strong plants the seed sown outside aways do best

[Mrs Dobby]

Best advice we can offer is to protect them from Rabbits if they are a problem on your plot! We did well with French beans last year, but lost about half our crops to the bunnies, so will be protecting them this year (along with doing a bit more shooting at the plot than we did last year too!)

[pete10]

Grew Robinsons Kingston Gold last year in root trainers on the window sill.
Planted out in May. Took a while to get going in the pants weather , But
they where superb , Just like butter .

[Kirsty]

Thanks for your contribution guys, it's really appreciated.

Kirsty
Editorial

[robD]

I love cherokee trail of tears (though thinking about them now has me in tears as I had put some aside to give to SuperSprout, all wrapped up for Christmas 2006.... Didn't get the chance to give them to her....).
I talk to my seeds/plants!
Main problems I tend to have with most plants in general - the dreaded S-words (S**g and S***l) - vigilance, hunting, brutality....

Another vote for Cherokee Trail of Tears from me (from Real Seeds), kids loved them and the mother-in-law ssaid they were 'the best beans she's ever tasted'!

[chuffa]

I think everyone has covered the way in which to grow them. My two favourites are Cobra, nice straight stringless ones and blauhilde that i got just up the road at Thomson & Morgan.

[muckdiva]

I always soak my bean seeds for a couple of hours before letting them sprout in damp kitchen roll. Be careful the paper is not soaking wet though (or compost if you are not doing the paper thingy). French beans can rot if they get too wet, especially the lighter coloured beans, I've found.

My favourite from last year was a climber, Viola di Cornetti, which I got from a seed swap. They were very prolific, despite the bad weather.

[kentvegplot]

I have grown Climbing Blue Lake for years, and it always does well. Started off in roottrainers in the tunnel, but I also did some in large pots and they seemed to do just as well. Sown second week of April last year, cropping from early July to the frosts.

Also experimented with 'Soissons' last year, grown as a drying bean (can also be picked as a haricot). This has made a lovely addition to winter casseroles, as has one of the heritage beans 'Blue and White'.

The only advice I would add is - just keep picking 'em. I picked every two days and the crop was wonderful, even in last summer's dubious weather.

[vegnut]

I don't fuss over mine to much. In the south, i just sow them straight in their growing positions and water them in. I do this at the end of may and i get a good crop. They seem to catch up with any that were sown earlier and hardened off. The Purple Queen were exceptional last year, probably due to the wet weather, so keep them well watered. I believe that they are all self fertile too. Even with dwarf french beans, i put some canes in to help with the windy weather we get so much more of in recent years.