I'm a has (no) bean.

[oakridge]

Generally I have no trouble germinating seeds in the greenhouse be it flowers or veg but beans no show. It is a mystery. I also have trouble germinating direct seeds but I am surrounded by 250 acres of woodland which supports a healthy population of foxes, rabbits, mice etc. so I think they are the problem there. But beans, where are they?

[Bren In Pots]

Oakridge that must be frustrating try sowing them in either pots or like I do into loo rolls. if they're eating your beans in the GH sow them indoors until they've germinated.

[jacob]

I find beans can randomly all decide to rot if they don't like the temperature moisture combination. Chitting them first takes a lot of this problem out.

[Jay-ell]

Must be really frustrating for you. I sowed 16 Pickwick Runner Beans and not a single one germinated but luckily all the Jubilee, Millionaire and Hestia in the same propagator did (as did the french climbers and dwarf)

[Finley]

Must be a bad year for beans! Mine have been either rubbish or no shows so far too

[Nannysally99]

Ditto for us, a half row of firestorm was a total no show

[Jay-ell]

My year seems fine so far.


90 climbing French beans planted out out of 96.
44 dwarf runners out of 64 (most no shows were the 16 Pickwicks) planted out today.
96 dwarf French hardening off.
8 foot row of Scarlet runners coming up.
Just waiting for the 8 foot row of Gigantes runners to show.

Broadbeans are growing after three sowings.

Might sow some more Canadian Wonder as I don't think I have enough beans.

[Baldy]

https://youtu.be/R6dm9rN6oTs

[Penellype]

I sowed 6 pots of 2 Stardust, which I normally have few problems with. 3 of the seeds germinated, 2 of them in 1 pot. The rest rotted. I soaked 8 seeds over night and then put them on damp kitchen paper for 48 hours. All of them looked like they were starting to germinate and 5 had definite roots. I planted all 8, 2 to a pot, making sure that each pot had at least 1 rooted bean.

6 of the beans have broken through the compost. The other 2, both in the same pot, have not. I am completely bemused by this as all the pots have been treated exactly the same.

[Jay-ell]

And that, Tonto, is why I always ride alone.

[Penellype]

Update to the above post - the 2 beans in the 4th pot have appeared above ground this morning, making 100% germination from the 8 seeds that were soaked and chitted. This compares with 25% germination from the same packet of seeds with the beans sown straight into the compost. I know which method I will be using next time!

[1Bee]

All my runners did fine on spite of the fact that I sowed them before the last frosts.

My cfb are not doing as well. I chitted them, popped them in the ground and the few that are coming up have badly cut and deformed first leaves. Have sown more in modules as a backup.

[Jimmy]

I sow mine in a piece of old plastic gutter in the greenhouse.
They then slide out into a furrow when ready.
First sowing a mouse had the lot.
Then little nipper had mouse.
Second sowing went OK lots germinated.
Just slide them out into garden last night.
Jimmy

[oakridge]

It is comforting to see that I am not alone. In the late 70s and 80s I was growing vegetables and bedding plants on a small scale for sale with great success. Everything seemed to grow without any trouble, but I did buy commercial seed, Asmer of Leicester - now defunct - for vegetables and Colegrave for flowers. In the mid-80s I moved and had livestock for 17 years but I have returned to horticulture but I do not seem to get the totally reliable germination that I was used to. I suppose that is progress.

[Jay-ell]

I sowed mine in waves in the heated propagators, then onto the windowsill, then outside the back door to harden off and now being moved down to the plot in groups (except the CRB which were sown in situ)