too late for bean trench?

[denise]

You guys on here are mind readers !!!

I was thinking about this bean trench busness and thinking I could put some cardboard in - sort of recycling it again as i used it to covered the weeds.

then i was going to ask how deep to dig it and read SR message

Thank you everyone - guess what i doing later if the weather stays good

[JennieAtkinson]

Thanks SR, that's really useful advice.

[ian]

Beans

I started my beans in loo rolls last year, they did ok, but I was advised that it is important to cut up the loo roll prior to planting out as the cardboard roll can restrict the root system.

[poozie]

Runner beans

Hi. This is my first post but I want to share what i consider to be my only real success on my weedpatch/allotment which I have had nearly a year now. My runner beans did fab even though everything else struggled with the weeds and I put it down to the fact that even though I planted them into un-enriched clay I mulched them heavily with news paper with soil over the top. They got watered about twice a week and even on the hottest days under the newspaper it stayed cool and moist. This year I have been making a bean trench but I will still do the newspaper mulch, it kept them weedfree except for a bramble.

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Poozie! Welcome to the madhouse! Thanks for the tip!

[vicki]

does the bean trench thing apply to french beans and peas as well as runner beans?

[Dobby]

If you want flatted down cardboard boxes, then try your local Tesco's or Halfords, they have loads in the skips! At Tesco's just ask for the back door manager, at Halfords just ask for a supervisor!

[Biscombe]

Here in Spain my runner beans were rubbish! I planted them April (which was probably a little late here) I’m going to try a different approach this year. I think I´ll start some of in pots today!
1. Dig a trench with added kitchen waste
2. Plant white flowered varieties for better pollination
3. Plant them as early as I can
Hope this works!!
One question, If I keep adding waste to the trench, come planting time does it matter If it’s not rotted down

[Nicky]

How do people get on with digging a bean 'trench'
a, if you want to use wigwams so need more of a circle rather than a trench
b, have oblong raised beds.
I don't hink I've got anywhere to store the soil from the trench digging, I've already got a mound to one side of the greenhouse from where I've dug two trenches to put the asparagus crowns when they come.

[vicki]

do I do the trench for peas and french beans as well as for runner beans

[Birdie Wife]

Hi vicki,

I was going to ask the same thing! I read in Geoff Hamilton's book that it's only for runner beans but I've done 1 1/2 trenches already before I read that. I was going to do french beans and peas in them but now I don't know all legumes fix their own nitrogen so technically don't need the extra feed but the idea is to keep the roots moist, for some reason runner beans must need this more than other legumes. G
GH book says if peas or french beans were grown using this method they would put on too much leaf and not enough fruit. So I think I'll grow something else on my trenches instead! Oh well, you live and learn.

[vicki lorraine]

Beans are hungry feeders. I would dig in compost for all legumes that way when you use the land for brassicas the next year it will be fed and have nitrogen.

[vicki]

mmm, now I'm really confused! Anyone else have any ideas?

[pigletwillie]

Hi Vicki, hope I am not teaching you to suck eggs here.

All peas and beans are part of the legume family. On their roots they have a bacteria which draws nitrogen from the environment and deposits it as small nodules on the roots. These nodules are great for following crops to utilise. So whenever you harvest any legumes, always leave the roots in the ground for the next crop.

The idea of a bean trench is two fold, firstly beans are very greedy of both food and water, the rotting matter in the trench feeds them and acts like a sponge, holding onto water.

The trenches are only ever done for runner beans (generally) and most people dont bother with them for peas, fench beans or broad beans.

I hope this clears the water a little.

[vicki]

thankyou Piglet - any advice gratefully received as I'm a bit of a novice to say the least!
not as much work to do as I thought then!!!