Grow Your Own French Beans

Lesson 3: Nurturing French Bean Seedlings

Seedling Care
Under normal conditions, French bean seedlings emerge from the ground between 10 and 14 days after sowing. Fill any gaps with the end-of-row spares, once the seedlings are big enough to handle. If you're growing climbers using the tepee method, remove the less robust seedling from the base of each cane. Keep down weeds by regular hoeing. Water the seedlings regularly until they're established. Once they are sturdy, don't water them unless the weather is dry. Start watering them again when the flowers appear. Too much water when French beans are young encourages leaf-growth at the expense of flowers and pods.

Support Systems
If you're growing climbers in rows, it's time to sort out some support. Push 2.4m canes into the ground every 15cms. Gather them in pairs from adjacent rows and secure them at the top with horizontal canes. (Now you know why you planted an even number of rows!) You should end up with cane "tunnels". String garden twine along the sides of the "tunnels" for extra support. Theoretically, dwarf varieties don't need support but, if you leave them entirely to their own devices, they may end up dragging their pods in the dirt. So, an informal system of light support using twiggy sticks can be helpful.

Earthing Up
When dwarf French bean seedlings turn into young plants, "earth up" the lower stalks to give them more support. Earthing up simply means gently heaping soil around the base of the plant. It's a good idea to mulch dwarf and climbing varieties with organic material. As well as retaining moisture and keeping down weeds, the mulch will add some extra nutrients to the crop. If you like, you can add a layer of clean straw at the base of the plants for lower pods to rest on. Slugs can threaten seedlings and young plants. Protect seedlings with bottomless plastic water bottles. Surround older plants with grit or serrated rings cut from larger plastic bottles.

Pic: GAP Photos/Lynne Brotchie