Potting on

Back in November 2016, I decided to sow some varieties of broad bean and pea really early. I wasn't sure if the seeds would come to life but they did and have been growing for the past few weeks.

The varieties of broad bean I chose to grow early are Aqualdulce Claudia and Bunyards Exhibition. Aquadulce is traditionally sown early as it's a hardy broad bean, while Bunyards is a Victorian variety that's stood the test of time and is known to be a heavy cropper. Both of these have so far germinated and are growing well.

 Pictured above is Aquadulce Claudia, bursting from the large cells I'd sown the seeds in.

Now it's time to give the seedlings some more space but it's still too cold to place them outside so I've potted them on in slightly bigger pots. Apart from the fact that they need room and will grow further given more space, the use of fresh compost will also continue to give the beans the nutrients that they need to survive as they would have soaked up most of the nutrients in the compost they germinated in. 

 You can see how cramped the roots are getting in this photo.

Here's a close up of the root system, twisting to fit in the cell that the plant was growing in.

To pot on, I used half litre pots (small pots with a diameter of 9cm) and half filled them with potting compost. Carefully removing the seedlings from their cells I transferred them to the pots and filled in the gaps with more compost. With watering, I had to be careful as it's still very frosty and the plants would die in waterlogged soil. Very little water was used (basically enough to keep the plant alive but not entirely soaking the pot through). 

 This one is Aquadulce Claudia.

The smaller, lighter green bean is Bunyards.

To further protect my seedlings, I kept them in the poly and then covered them with bubblewrap (of which I have plenty), but you can use fleece or any other product that isn't heavy or dark. I propped up the bubblewrap with a bamboo cane to stop it from weighing down the seedlings. I'm aiming to plant them out in March. 

In the meantime I have sown some more seeds of Aquadulce today. Why I've done this is because I want to grow a succession of beans. It's not too late for anybody to try this as most broad beans can be sown from Feb onwards. Here's how you could grow in succession:

1. Sow one lot of seeds. In the right conditions they should germinate between 1-2 weeks.
2. After four weeks of growth, where you find you need to pot on your seedlings, sow another lot of seeds. 
3. After another period of four weeks you could sow yet again.
4. After planting out your young plants, you will have three sets of differently aged plants. This means that you should be able to harvest your crop for two more months than you normally would. 

I always recommend growing in succession, especially if you have a particular favourite veg that you can grow easily. It'll make the harvesting season longer for you and give you more fresh veg to eat for longer (rather than forcing yourself to eat everything before it goes off or giving/throwing it away, especially if you can't store it easily).

I'll feature the peas I'm growing a little later on as they are still very small but at least they are growing. 

For now, keep gardening!