Things Sprouting!!! Howbout for you?

[MeggsyGardenGirl]

All but one of the first 20 cells of beans are up now, and about 7 of the second 30 bunch of cells are sprouting also.

So this morning I gave them some fresh slightly warm water after taking them off the heat pad and removing the plastic cover, and set them in my garden, and put the plastic top back on. It was 48 degrees in the shade, but I put them in a light spot. They will go outside like this during the days and back in at night for about a month.

If they do become too large for the packed cells I'll split them into 2 flats, separated with soil between them. They will probably be planted outside around the 1st of May.

These are the rare late maturing beans. I packed the best seeds of them to send to Russ Crow, and even these are giving a great germination percentage. Some of these were what I call "premies".

Kind of excited that Blue Gold Star and Night Star should produce a lot more than last year, planting the seeds 5 weeks sooner inside plus having them sprout more than twice as fast as last year. This should give them about 6 more weeks of production this year than last year. Course, last year's season did not completely end until December, but I am prepared to house up a frame and plastic cover for them if the season ends earlier this year.

The kind of thing a gardener can learn to do after gardening in barely zone 4, sometimes zone 3 Montana, where ya learn the importance of season extending at both ends. And oh shoot, coming back to California, wow! Planting peas March 16th!

Marshall, I never thought of starting beans inside. I always thought they didn't like transplanting, much like cucumbers. But of course, I do transplant cucumbers just to get a jump start on them. Does this work for any bean type like, for instance, flat Italian? Do you figure starting about 1 month prior to planting out? What soil temp would you want before planting the bean seedlings out? Please tell me more!

 

[897tgigvib]

Meggsy, normally there is no real reason to start beans early. These I am starting early are some rare dry beans from the canyon regions of mexico that take over 6 months to start producing. That's why these are rare.

Yes, beans can be started indoors, and hopefully not more than a month before planting outside. Longer than that and they need to be uppotted and if a pole variety, given a small bamboo stake.

Beans definitely are one that need to be transplanted with extra care. Mine are in "Coir Cells" which is similar to peat pot material. The roots can go right through them. These Coir cells fit snugly into a standard flat, 50 cells fit in a flat. I double up my flats. Both have plenty of drain holes. Mostly I double up my flats because they are much less likely to bend in the middle while moving them around.

Chances are that in the course of a month there will be roots sticking out of all the cells. That's ok. The coir has already softened a lot and when I transplant these beans into the garden it should be simple to tear or scissor them apart, being careful not to touch any roots separating the cells.

I know how beans are. Their roots will go down to the flat and settle there. So when I do the deed, I'll use my fingers to lift them off.

If needed, I will sacrifice the flat and cut it to get the bean plants out. Probably won't need to though. They will be well watered right before transplanting, and the garden soil will be moistened, and I will have water in a bucket, with my favorite single serving baby plant water pourer, a plastic wine goblet, long stemmed of course.

Yep, similar to cucumbers in root carefulness. About 1 month is all you'll need inside before going out and it'll be easy enough.

Flat italian is a good one to do this with. Is yours green? I have a family heirloom of a green one. It had no name, so I named it Kim's Italian Flat Green. It seems to be a not vigorous less than half runner. Wonderful italian beans, white seeded.

I don't know the exact soil temperature the soil should be, but I'm going with planting them out when I plant my other bean seeds outside, probably the day before that. Soil temp I think should be when it's warm enough to plant bean seeds. I don't see why a touch earlier would hurt much if the flat is getting crowded, unless the weatherman says it's gonna be chilly for awhile...then might have to uppot the beans to wait on it...i'd rather not have to do that.

 

[MontyJ]

I have lots fo things sprouting, many herbs, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce. If we don't get some warmer weather I don't know how long I will be able to keep them alive in the barn. We are finally supposed to get to normal and even a bit above normal in a few days, so all is not yet lost.

 

[bj taylor]

been having days in the 80s & tomorrow it will be in the 40s for a few days. i'm still holding on the peppers/eggplant/squash/beans. my tomatoes aren't going to like the cold spell. they already took a bite about 10 days ago. these temps are all over the place. we did get some rain, praise God! more supposed to be coming. that's just plain wonderful!

 

[MeggsyGardenGirl]

Marshall, thank you very much for this info! I might try early indoor bean starts this year to compare with direct sown. Maybe it will boost yield. I usually wait until late May/early June here to plant beans to be sure the soil is warm enough and that means a pretty short season. It all depends on the weather. I use thin newspaper pots for those plants that don't like transplanting. Same approximate size as your coir pots.

Interested to learn about your very rare beans from Mexico - now I understand your earlier references, especially your sock drawer. LOL I'll stay tuned.

 

[desertlady]

I got lettuce, peas, green beans , beets, radishes, tomatoes sprouting !! Next week i am going to plant my indoor plants ,out ! :tools ( too windy)

 

[skeeter9]

So far we've got mint, asparagus, snap peas, radishes, lettuce, and oregano. I think that's it. Can't wait to get the beans, squash, and tomatoes in, but that won't be until mid-May. Oh, almost forgot the blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

wooo hooo! i just noticed last night that a couple of my recently grafted apple trees are starting to bud! here's hoping that is a good sign that the grafts have been taking.

 

[897tgigvib]

I hope they aren't budding too soon. I think that happened to one of my grapes last year that Lee bud grafted...I'll know in a month or so.

 

[ducks4you]

I'm pretending that I'm buying sprouts, but I've started the following from seeds:
Roma tomatoes
Cushion Crimson tomatoes
Rutgers tomatoes
Cherokee Purple tomatoes
Dwarf Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar Snap Peas
Buttercrunch lettuce
Black Simpson lettuce
Dwarf Sweet Peas
Sweet Peas
Cabbage
Store bought garlic

It's been an experience bc some have flourished, some hardly spouted, some didn't survive transplanting to larger pots. Still, I have enough seeds and enough time and I'm expecting a better year.
Outside I've planted onion starts and spinach, but only two spinach (outside) are growing, and they survived from last Fall's planting.
My best luck has been with starter soil. The seeds that I put into potting soil haven't sprouted well.