Over winter broad beans

[kennethc]

Hi all

I'm looking at sowing some Aquadulce broad beans over the winter.
My question is as follows, do I plant them in the bed that already had a sowing of broad beans this year or should i relocate to where the legumes will go next spring?

Many thanks in advance.

Kenneth

[PyreneesPlot]

I put mine in the next years bed, so part of the 2014 bean plot which will also get peas, and then more peas, broadies and later French beans in the spring.

My over wintered broadies, aslo aquadulce, do much better than the spring sown, despite sitting under snow in February.

[northepaul]

I would rotate them into another bed, just to stop build up of harmful things in the soil. I believe that brassicas (broccolli, kale cabbages etc) benefit from being planted where beans have been...
Hope that helps

[kathyd]

Mmm, I'm going to stick some into next year's bed too. I've not tried overwintering broadies outside before, so it'll be interesting to see how they do. For some reason I have a feeling we're going to have a very cold winter this year - I do hope I'm wrong!

[Chippy Minton]

I go for next year's bed also, if it crops next year then it's min next year's bed (unless of course there's no space in which case it gets stuffed in a likely looking space )

[Inastate]

Is it better to plant them directly into the ground than keeping them in a green house?

[george356]

I would like to know the answer to this too, Inastate, seeing as I have sowed The Sutton variety in our greenhouse and already have the seedlings poking through, and that I am in the North East too

[WPG]

I grew overwintered Aquadulce claudia last year, and they were fantastic - have bought another packet of seeds for this year.
I think one of the tricks is to sow them at the right time, so that they grow a few inches before the winter, but aren't so tall that they'll get blown over. I sowed mine outdoors (not cloched) around the end of October/ start of November last year, and just left them to it. They didn't seem to worry about the frost, and the 2 foot of snow we had in March didn't harm them either.
The only problem I had with them was some chocolate spot in early spring, but I thinned them out a bit, gave them potash, and they were fine after that. The crop in early July was great- probably around 20-25 large pods on each plant, with around 6-8 beans per pod.

[Vince G]

Yep, defo sow them in next year's legume bed. Our overwintered Aquadulce did much better than the spring planted Suttons, so doing them again this year. They were much bigger and stronger and benefited from the early start. Also, if you have space for a worthwhile amount of peas, overwintering these means you don't have to put up with magotty peas - Douce Provence is the best. Same rules for these as WPG says above, they just need to grow an inch or two before winter sets in, not too high. Rotationally, my legumes go where the potatoes were this year.

[kathyd]

I put some in my polytunnel a couple of years ago, although can't remember what month it was, sorry. They grew really well, but flowered in late autumn when there were no insects around to pollinate... I was advised to cut them back to ground level and hope they'd grow again in the spring. They did,although didn't do as well as those I planted outside.