Planting out my Broad Beans
Dukepaulus
Posts: 10
in Fruit & veg
A few weeks ago I planted some broad beans as suggested by Monty and now I have some lovely sturdy plants in large cells. I've been putting them out every day and bringing them in at night, much to the amusement of my partner who's christened them " The Cats " but I want to get them into the veg patch so I can use the cells to start off some other crops. Problem is that every time there's a clear sky at night there's a fairly hard frost, about -2c last night for example. How hardy are they likely to be if I plant them out, or will a hard frost ruin the crop? I'm in the Scottish Borders BTW.
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I'm based in the south and last week lost two broad bean plants to frost because I forgot to put the back in the greenhouse until 22.00. I'd say it would be very risky for you given the current forecast.
I would leave them out in a sheltered spot (somewhere near the house perhaps, where it won't be too frosty) for a couple of nights, just to really toughen them up, and then plant them out.
Mine were sown in the ground in late October and are full of flowers (and bees) now - we're not in Scotland but Norfolk can be quite chilly in the winter, with the cold weather coming in off the North Sea
Muddyfork - had they been hardening off for a while or had you only just started?
Dove - They'd been out for several weeks and I had planned to start leaving them out. Just a case of bad luck I think.
What variety were they? I always grow Aquadulce Claudia - they seem to be as tough as old boots for me (the plants that is, not the beans) - they were under 18" of snow for nine weeks the other winter and survived and cropped really well.
i am about to take a couple of my larger broad bean seedlings - now about 4-5inches tall - out of coldframe and plant them in bin with my potatoes that are in there. then i will cover in fleece overnights. seem to be surviving ok seeing as how we had sleet yesterday.
am in central scotland.
I sowed Aquadulce outside in early March and they are growing well. They have survived several frosts and so have the ones that I sowed in February in the GH and planted out in March, having hardened them off during a few mild days.
Thanks everyone. I think I'll leave them outside for a couple of nights close to the house and then get them planted out if the forecast improves any.