Dwarf Green beans

[Tarragon2017]

Hello there , I placed some Dwarf Green Beans in 1 litre pots and a few have sprouted , I was wondering what size pot to transfer either one or several of the plants into, I have all manner of Pots from 3,5 , 7.5, 10 and 20 litres

Also some Herbs in a seed tray have sprouted shall I also delicately transfer them to a 1 Litre pot then move them on as and when they get bigger

I understand the Season is still quite early but we have been promised some nicer weather in May so I wanted to take advantage of the heat wave we just had and the next one in May

Thank you

[nickdub]

Do I take it you intend to keep the beans in pots as opposed to planting out in the garden ?

With the herbs it rather depends on what sort they are, but in general I wouldn't mess around with them too much - may be lift a wodge of seedlings up with a knife blade and put en mass in a 5" pot - then repeat if you want more separate lots. Its easiest just to pick the herbs as and when you want them for cooking, and so thin the numbers in any one container that way

[Tarragon2017]

I would like to have a Raise bed , as the soil in my garden is bad

So for now I must stick to pots

[nickdub]

I would like to have a Raise bed , as the soil in my garden is bad

So for now I must stick to pots

OK - got ya -As far as the size of the pot for the beans goes, I'm going with the stock answer of "it depends " :-)

In this case you need to take stock of how big the bean plants are and make a guess at how big a root system they have, then pick a pot size which is a bit bigger than the beans' roots and pot them in to that size to start with. Obviously as the beans grow they will need larger pots probably two or three lots of re-potting in all. What you don't want is a small plant lost in a huge pot. Of course other containers are possible, and there's no reason why if they have different shapes that you can't have two or three plants in each.

[Tarragon2017]

Thanks I am still learning

I am not sure whether to keep a plant in a big pot and hope it suffices as replanting causes stress

Please advise the best method

[nickdub]

Unless the plant is growing super quickly under ideal conditions its best to put it in a just about big enough pot with a small amount of room for expansion and then gradually pot it on to larger containers as it gets bigger. Some people check under the pots at each stage to see if the roots are coming through as a guide.

There should be relatively little stress potting on a plant as long as the extra compost needed is warmed up to the same temperature as the plant and that no air-pockets are left around the roots. So bring the compost in to wherever the plant is a day or so before potting on to warm up, and after finishing transferring the plant to the larger container, give it a good watering from the top to wash the compost down well round the root ball - if in doubt press round the new compost with your thumbs, along the inside top of the pot.

[Tarragon2017]

Thanks for the advice much appreciated , I will keep you posted

[nickdub]

You're very welcome - happy gardening :-)