Soaking Beans - Disappointing Results

[The Doctor]

I planted up a load of Blue Lake beans from last season recently. I soaked them for 8 hours before hand then stuck them in 2 to a cell in moist compost in an unheated propogator on my windowsill.

After a couple of weeks, results were disappointing so I gently had a look see.

In each and every cell, one bean was just starting to shoot, while the other had gone rotten!

I then put a few in how I would normally do it. Without soaking, one to a cell in the same type, but new moist compost. They're in the same propogator on the same window giving more or less the same average temperature and light.

This time, within a week, all of them are showing signs of shooting!!!

Don't suppose anyone can explain this???

[Eyren]

Maybe putting them in pre-soaked made them vulnerable to fungus, whereas the unsoaked ones were able to take in water at a pace that suited them? At least your second crop is now sprouting, so you haven't lost out too badly

[muckdiva]

I've found that white coloured beans seem to rot quicker than darker colours. My recipe for success (after having the same problem as you last year) is to soak the beans for a couple of hours only, then wrap them in a damp (not too wet) piece of kitchen paper to sprout. Don't let the paper dry out, but the beans should not be too wet or they may rot. Once they've a viable sprout, then put them in the soil - or modules. I've had better results with modules cos the slugs and mice are too devastating in my garden.

Hope that helps.

I only do this with heritage varieties where I've only 10 or so seeds as its a bit of a faff. If I had loads of seeds, it's much easier to do as you did and just sow them in modules without soaking.

[veg4681]

I didn't soak mine (runner, French & yard long), forgot about it but I'm not sure I would have soaked that long, 30 minutes or so, no longer than an hour. I sow 1 or 2 beans in 3" pot then cover it with plastic bag to keep the moisture in and place them in warmish pantry as my window sill can get pretty drafty. I'll report back when they have germinated and if any beans has rotted as I have a bad habit of doing this with bigger seeds. I've just discovered that I've rotted 2 out of 6 sweet peas seeds .

[momol]

Sorry to hear that The Doctor,

Growing beans is pretty new for me. Last year I sowed a row of unsoak beans and 2 weeks later the presoak beans. They all germinated without problem, the only different is the presoak one were germinating faster (within a week) than the dry beans. Back then was around mid may and early june, they were sowed in individual cups, 1 seed per cup.

[bluemoon]

I always sprout them first, that way I know I'm sowing a viable seed. I seem to lose far less to rot that way and if the seeds are then going to be direct sown outdoors I also lose far fewer to mice and birds - I believe it's because a germinating seed excretes a chemical giving it a foul taste and that this is why edible sprouts have to be washed repeatedly

[Flummery]

I tend to soak them but not to water the compost they go into. It's generally a bit damp as it comes out of the sack. The beans come through faster than unsoaked ones - they need to take up a lot of water from the compost before they will sprout so you are cutting out a stage by soaking. However, I don't start mine off till mid/late April. The combination of cold and wet has probably caused the rotting.