Broad beans Slow to germinate

[lyndsbob]

Hi
i planted my broad beans in the ground on the 5th March, and still there is no sign of them
I am in cornwall, so its reasonably mild and with the latest warm spell, thought they would have made an appearance now, but no!
The seeds i used, were last years seeds i bought, which if i remember rightly came storming up about 7-10 days.
Do you think they are too old, and i should plant new 2009 seeds, or should i just be patient?

Radish, carrots and beetroot that i planted at the same time are showing already

Thanks for your help!

[Capsid]

I sowed some broad beans in my greenhouse in 3" pots on Feb 19th and they germinated around March 17th. They were last year's seed too. So allow a month at least since yours are outdoors.

[selfraising]

Hi I sowed my broad beans (which were last years seeds) direct outside on 22nd Feb. They haven't shown any sign of coming through yet but yesterday I moved some soil to one side and they had germinated as there were roots growing out, so will have to be patient a bit longer I think.

[greendean]

my broadbeans were a couple of years old. sowed 27th of feb, germinated 11th march but i did pop them into heated propagtor after a week!

plenty of time yet and they always catch up

[Eyren]

Mine have been a bit slow this year, even in my unheated conservatory - the ones I sowed a fortnight ago (8th March) are just pushing out of the compost. So I would expect outdoor ones to be even slower!

[Snadger]

Easily sorted.......dig one up an see if it's germinated or rotted! Always sow mine indoors as the mice usually get mine along with my peas!

[gojiberry]

Broad bean seed should be viable for at least 5 years and I have even used seed older than that without any loss of viability. Mice and planting to deep can be a problem. But as a few grapes have said be a little bit more patient and I'm sure they should be OK.

Ian

[lyndsbob]

Thanks to you all.
I dug one up and its germinated, so assuming its friends have too! I just needed to be a bit more patient i think!!

[weather man]

Broad Beans

It took over 3 weeks before my broad beans eventualy decided to make an appearance. I think with the cold winter we had (colder than normal) the soil temprature delayed a lot of early sowings this year.

[StephenH]

Thinking of growing broad beans, having read about them in 'Grow your own veg.' by the fragrant Carol Klein. Didn't realise that, being hardy, they were easier than french beans, of which I've got two varieties ready to sow, 'Cherokee Trail of Tears' and another one I can't remember the name of. Any broad bean variety recommendations, anyone?

[Mcbee]

I've got a small plot so grow 'sutton". Works for me!

[gojiberry]

With it being well into the broad bean sowing season I would go for bunyards exhibition. Any earlier it would be claudia aquadulce, or if you are in a very windy position then the dwarf the sutton.

Ian

[Mike and Louise]

Our Broad Beans last year also took ages to germinate. Most even went mouldy in the ground.
We sowed new seed in small pots and had them in the greenhouse where it was warmer.

Then, just 2 days later, all the beans in the ground germinated.

In all they took about 3 weeks to germinate. So just be patient.

Also though, we always dig a few of the beans up to see if they are forming roots. If they are then there is a good chance that they will germinate eventually.

[StephenH]

Thanks for the advice. I've bought 'The Sutton'.