Spill the beans!

ehannahr

Hi, this year I want to plant loads of different beans on my allotment and I'm wondering if the large bags of pulses sold in Asian grocers are viable seed? Or if there's any other cheap ways of buying bean seed - green, kidney, borlotti, pinto, french, violetta, runner, I love them all- but I find the garden & DIY centres give you very few beans for your beans...
Thanks, Hannah

Farway

Only one way to find out if viable is too sow them, I have sown dried peas, the marrow fat ones you can buy, and they grew

Drying is natures way of preserving the seeds, and large seeds, like runners, will be viable for years, but of course, unlike seeds from seed companies where you hope they have been stored correctly, you have no way of knowing how they have stored

Could you not buy a smaller quantity to try first, instead of large bag?

Then sow on damp cloth indoors and see if they germinate

trollopscarletwoman

ehannahr wrote: »

Hi, this year I want to plant loads of different beans on my allotment and I'm wondering if the large bags of pulses sold in Asian grocers are viable seed? Or if there's any other cheap ways of buying bean seed - green, kidney, borlotti, pinto, french, violetta, runner, I love them all- but I find the garden & DIY centres give you very few beans for your beans...
Thanks, Hannah

If you have one near join your local horticultural society. My sub is £4 per year and worth every penny. At mine you can buy runner beans, broad beans, onion sets, shallots, potato seed etc all loose. They weigh it so you can purchase as little or as much as you want.

A tip with larger size seeds. To take some of the hit and miss out of germination rather than pot them up and hit and miss waiting, put some moist compost in a plastic bag, add the seeds and mix, wait 10-14 days, tip out and see which ones have started to sprout.

Ones that have pot on. Those that haven't put back into the plastic bag. It works.