Sowing Beans Indoors

[mobiledynamics]

Interesting responses sofar. I've never done beans indoors as it's so easy to do it outside. Drop, move over 1 1/2, drop another seed, rinse and repeat.

After last years fiasco and the birds winning, I'm trying something ~new~

[oakley]

I've had so many great years in the past and then, bam, soggy wet Spring and I get
seed too wet and moldy....or birds or drought. I don't have much real estate to start a
bunch of seed far in advance...or the time. But to ensure a decent harvest I do the few
things that work. And lots of extra insurance sowing.

[Brightmeadow]

Hi Annette: Yes, hopefully it will warm up and STOP raining soon. If only we got some of this rain during the summer months. Good luck germinating more of those bean seeds - great idea for old bean seeds. I received the Tutelo beans last week and they are very pretty. They are pictured in William Woys Weaver's new edition of his Heirloom Vegetable Gardening but are incorrectly identified on page 76 as the white and gray beans. They are the reddish striped ones. Our library system has this new book.
Shirley

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by mobiledynamics

If I sprinkle cayenne pepper in the soil and direct sow, will the birds still come ;--/

Birds have very few taste buds. Hot peppers don't faze them. (I've been kissed by a parrot right after she ate a hot pepper... burnt lips!)

Nan

[kath]

I sow all my pole beans indoors in 3" peat pots and transplant them outdoors after 3-4 weeks of growing when the 10-day forecast doesn't show any lows below 40 degrees F. Nothing ever bothers them when they are this tall- not sure why you are thinking about growing them so tall.

I also direct seed a row of Provider in early May or when the soil is warm enough for a week or two of beans before the pole beans kick in.

[Zeedman]

Because I grow beans for dry seed, I use a lot of bean transplants each year. With my short summers, every extra day added to the growing season can be the difference between success & failure - especially for limas. If I am unable to plant on time due to weather (a common occurrence in recent years), I seed transplants instead, and little time is lost. And even if I direct seed on time, I start a few transplants of each variety anyway, as backups... those backups saved my seed crops the last two years.

Transplants are also handy when starting with a small sample (when every seed must count), or when trying to revive old seed.

In areas with warmer, longer seasons, bean transplants would probably be unnecessary - unless it was to avoid seedling loss due to bugs or critters. In my climate, transplants are indispensable.

[Labradors2]

Great idea Zeedman. I should start some Christmas Limas inside and get a jump on the season! I did get lima beans when I grew them a couple of years ago, but I could get MORE this way .

How many weeks before plant-out would you start them?

Linda

[Zeedman]

Bean seedlings need strong light immediately after germination, or they quickly become leggy... so how early you plant them, depends upon the availability of a warm, sunny place to move them to. I germinate them indoors about 2 weeks before the recommended direct-seeding date, then move them into a solar greenhouse. Temps are USUALLY warm enough in the greenhouse by then. On warm days, I put the trays of seedlings out into full sun - but bring them back into the greenhouse at night (I've got deer).

If you intend to start beans earlier than 2 weeks ahead, then give them a large enough container to keep them from becoming root bound.

[b54red]

I always start my beans early in the little greenhouse I have. Seems silly to start beans early down here with our warm weather but they are so sensitive to frost and they don't produce as well once it gets really hot. By starting them early in the greenhouse I avoid the risk of a late frost which we had this year and I put them in the ground when they are about 8 inches tall when it is finally safe to plant them. That way I get a few more days of production before the extreme heat starts slowing them down. My plants are all full of blooms with small beans on most of them already. Had I waited until time to plant them in the ground they would only be an inch or two tall now.

Bill

[salix]

I start my pole beans early as we live in a short season area. Does anyone else clip the tops if they get too long and tangled (usually because the weather has taken a two week turn for the worse)? Have found it works very well, getting multiple stems as it were.

[mobiledynamics]

Never really sowed beans indoors till this year. I put various ones in different trays - not seperate plugs/cups/packs. What I'm learned is that the roots grow big and they grow fast....I literally transplanted them out into soil after sowing them indoors for 4-5 days as the beans just took off. Removing them to not damage roots, individual planting them since there were bare root was quite a chore !

Been monitoring the beans and sofar, aside from a couple of losses (probably due to transplant and root mess up), I've lost a handful of them but I still have 100+ so plenty to go around. Birds don't seem to be interested in my beans so far.

Back to direct sowing next year. It was ALOT of work on knees replanting the bare rooted beans since I did not do individual plugs.