Broad Bean question

evie451

I am growing Broadies from seed for the first time. I know they are pretty hardy things but i started them off in tubes with seed compost they are now about a foot tall and i have given them a bit of in tube support with short sticks. So far they have been kept on a sunny although pretty draught single glazed window cill

what should i do now? i have a greenhouse and a cold frame but they are a bit tall for the frame now? should i move them in and out the greenhouse for a while? When can they go into final position? They are growing nicely and i dont want to stall them....

I am in the West of Scotland and although the weather has been a lot better over the last 10days we are only just seeing the very first signs of spring....

Any advice for me gratefully accepted

WestonDave

Go for the greenhouse and start hardening them off for outside (i.e. outside during the days, back in during the nights, then just back in if a frost is forecast etc). At a foot tall however they need to be starting to spread their roots otherwise that will check them so I'd be looking to get them outside in the ground in a fortnight if you can. Maybe give them some general purpose plant feed to keep them going.

evie451

thanks Weston you are a gem! i read gardening books but i find the advice confusing sometimes and although i understand about hardening off i dont know for how long etc so thanks for that.....

valk_scot

Why did you bother starting them off in tubes in the first place? Most broad beans are perfectly happy being sown direct into the ground and it's a lot less hassle. I sowed a bed of Aquadulce Caludia in November and another one in Feburary and they're already growing strongly with no protection at all. (I'm in East Lothian.) I'll be putting another bed (we like broad beans) of The Sutton in at the start of April.

Farway

valk_scot wrote: »

Why did you bother starting them off in tubes in the first place? Most broad beans are perfectly happy being sown direct into the ground and it's a lot less hassle. I sowed a bed of Aquadulce Caludia in November and another one in Feburary and they're already growing strongly with no protection at all. (I'm in East Lothian.) I'll be putting another bed (we like broad beans) of The Sutton in at the start of April.

Depends on how many, I agree for loads, but in my case I have space for about 6, so I did mine in tubes indoors this year, now planted outside and getting a real drenching

evie451

I know what you mean i was told you could just sow in situ but i am plagued with mice and i seriously mean a plague and although i said i am trying them for the first time its not true in the strictest sense i did try the last two years and the seedlings just disappeared.....it didnt occur to me why until i read that apparently hungry mice really like broadie seedlings....

jammy_dodger

i have trouble with mice eating large seeds to i now dip pea and bean seeds in jeyes fluid before planting doesnt effect the seed but deters the mice hth x