Watering french beans

[littlemoney]

Sorry to be a pest with another question but vegetables are a mystery to me. I have dwarf and climbing french beans. Are they water hungry plants needing lots of moisture. Is it better to do smaller amounts every evening or leave a porous hose on the ground around them for some hours, say once a week.

They have had no organic matter incorpated into the soil prior to planting. Don't know if this makes a difference to water renention or not.

Guidance appreciated please. Thank you.

[Ms-T]

This is what i do with watering i water into the bottles so it gos down to the roots i do it morning and evening , and yes it would be good to organic matter incorpated into the soil prior to planting...but you can still feed them .

[Ms-T]

you can see them better here

[B Porcupine]

Hi!

I grow Cobra climbing french beans. I usually put in a lot of compost during the late autumn, so I just water them in and give them a water if it is v sunny, v dry, or windy (no real food apart from the compost). As you say your soil was not composted, you may want to water them more than I d. The watering bottles are a v good idea, it gets the moisture down to the roots rather than watering lots of area.

Good luck! I think french beans (esp the climbers) are great value crop. I am still eating last years beans from the freezer.

[Dorothyrouse]

I love dwarf beans, and I give mine lots of water,and the ground was manured over winter.

my climbing French beans Blue Lake have been v difficult this year, and many refused to germinate! I actually thought mice were eating them as they came through and I bought some humane mouse traps! ( and yes they did like them)

[peanut]

When watering you want to give a good soaking as and when needed. A little amount often will encourage the roots to stay closer to the surface and make them more prone to drying out, you want them to go down nice and deep.

[ameno]

They don't need as much as runner beans, but they still need a fair bit, to swell the pods.
As said above, best to give them a good soaking once or twice a week, rather than little and often.
Also, mulch them if you can. It helps a lot. I use chopped straw.

[littlemoney]

I love dwarf beans, and I give mine lots of water,and the ground was manured over winter.

my climbing French beans Blue Lake have been v difficult this year, and many refused to germinate! I actually thought mice were eating them as they came through and I bought some humane mouse traps! ( and yes they did like them)

I am growing Blue lake but I germinated on damp tissue in a freezer box in the air cupboard ( as suggested here) and planted those that germinated in pots. I planted 16 beans in pots as I thought some would fail but I have put 16 plants into the garden. It may be overkill on the bean front as I also have dwarf french beans.

[littlemoney]

you can see them better here

That's what I do with my tomato planted but I have run out of old plastic bottles. How do you overcome the problem that every year some seem to clog up and the water doesn't drain through?

[littlemoney]

I will be having an experiement as 8 beans can be easily watered. The other 8 are dotted around the garden where ever I could find somewhere to attach a bean pole to. These will get less well watered as being on solid clay the water from the can easily runs off before it can soak in.

With regard to feeding. I sprinkled growmore into the planting hole but what should be the later feeding regime?

[burnie]

I'm trying blue lake this year, along with others, I too had only around 50% germination, I sowed mine in modules in the greenhouse and will be planted out, probably next week. I tend to water when the look dry or thirsty with a hose and give them a good soak as I am on sandy soil that drains quickly, I do add manure and or compost.