saved runner bean seed failed to germinate

[yogz]

Hi all,

This year, for the first time, I tried to start some runner beans from seed I had saved last year. My usual method is to sprout the seeds on damp kitchen paper. Unfortunately, none of the seeds sprouted. They just went mouldy. I had to chuck them. I am wondering why this happened. It's very disheartening as I would really like to be self-sufficient with my veg-growing. I dont want to be buying new seed every year. I started some French beans (shop bought) at the same time, and they all germinated great.

Any wisdom much appreciated!

[burnie]

What were the seeds you saved them from, secondly how did you store them over winter.

[Bren In Pots]

I can't think why your beans failed.

Here's what I've been doing for the past 12-ish years.
I leave the beans on the stems until the pods have dried and gone crispy.
Take indoors spreading them out on a trays for a few weeks
Open pods and leave seeds another week then place in paper envelopes
Store in seed box.

Hope this helps.

[yogz]

I can't think why your beans failed.

Here's what I've been doing for the past 12-ish years.
I leave the beans on the stems until the pods have dried and gone crispy.
Take indoors spreading them out on a trays for a few weeks
Open pods and leave seeds another week then place in paper envelopes
Store in seed box.

Hope this helps.

This is exactly how I dried and stored them. Makes no sense at all why they failed. I have started some more off today, along with some shop bought seed of the same variety. Fingers crossed this was just some weird flukey thing...

[ameno]

How did you dry them? If you dried them somewhere too hot (like on top of a radiator, for instance) then it may have killed them.

[bikermike]

Did you get them wetter this year when you sprouted them?

they do seem susceptible to getting too soggy

[yogz]

How did you dry them? If you dried them somewhere too hot (like on top of a radiator, for instance) then it may have killed them.

They were left on an East-facing windowsill to dry out. Surely, that wouldn't have killed them would it?

[yogz]

Did you get them wetter this year when you sprouted them?

they do seem susceptible to getting too soggy

Nope, I don't think that's the problem. I tried again with 4 saved seeds, 4 shop bought seeds all in the same container. The saved seeds all went mouldy. The shop-bought are looking better. One has sprouted.
Most annoying...

[Snoop Puss]

If the shop-bought ones are doing better, it sounds like something went wrong when you dried your own seed or in storage. Try again this year?

[ameno]

Possibly they were picked too soon, before fully ripe? Or conversely, they may have been left on the plant too long. I've found if autumn is wet then the dry pods on the plants can absorb water, and this encourages mould and bacteria which may have killed the seed.
Unless the seeds were mouldy when you came to plant them then it's unlikely to be a storage issue, as you only stored them for 6 months or so. The issue was likely in either picking or drying.