Grow this high yielding, climbing French bean with your runner beans to create a variety of textures and flavours. It’s easy to grow and produces masses of beautiful violet flowers, followed by delicious, tender, stringless beans. Can be grown up wigwams for fantastic flower border displays. You’ll get masses of organic beans for weeks on end.
- Stringless beans
- High yielding
- Product Details
- How to Sow
- Tips & Advice
Sowing Time
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Outdoors | ||||||||||||
Indoors |
Harvest Time
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Harvest |
Plant Spacing
20cm (8in)
60cm (24in)
Sowing Indoors
- Sow individual seeds 2.5cm (1in) deep in 8cm (3in) pots of seed and potting compost. We recommend using either Gro-Sure Seed and Cutting Compost or Westland John Innes Seed Sowing Compost
- Keep the pots in a frost free greenhouse
- Ensure the compost remains moist at all times, but not saturated
- Gradually accustom the young plants to outside conditions for 2-3 weeks before planting them out to their cropping positions from late May onwards, when the danger of frost has passed
- Ensure supports are in place before planting out
- Allow 20cm (8in) between plants in the row and 60cm (24in) between rows
Sowing Outdoors
- Sow two seeds close together at intervals of 20cm (8in)
- French bean seed is sensitive to cold, wet soils so do not sow seed outdoors before May
Support
- As these French beans climb, they will need support.
- A frame of canes and strong netting is ideal, or the beans can be grown up wigwams of sticks or canes, where they become a decorative feature in the garden
- Ensure any structure is at least 180cm (6ft) high
- Plants will climb and twine naturally as they grow
Harvest
- Pick the beans when they are young and tender as this encourages the plants to produce for longer
Freezing
- Climbing French beans freeze well
- Simply slice, blanch them in boiling water for a minute or two, drain, allow to cool, then bag them for the freezer
Growing Tips
- Tap flowers or spray with a fine mist water bottle to encourage them to set
- Water generously in dry spells
- Climbing French beans are generally disease and trouble free
- They thrive in a sunny position which is not exposed to cold winds
For any questions or advice, please contact our technical advice line on 01480 443789 (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm) or email [email protected]