Sowing Multi-Coloured French Beans in Containers

Posted on 29. Apr, 2011 by Tracey in Veg Plot

I love french beans and I grow them every year. This year I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to squeeze them into my raised beds as I want to grow runner beans as well so I have sown purple, yellow and purple and green varieties into silver galvanized containers on my decking which were bought from Argos last year. I’ve never grown french beans in pots so it was a case of ‘bung them all in and see what happens’ type of vegetable gardening.

Our decking is a suntrap as its south facing however I really didn’t expect the french beans to show themselves for at least 2 weeks but a week later they have emerged from their seed cases rather magnificently whilst the sun is still shinning. Looks like I’ll be getting beans sooner than I thought.

Months To Sow
French Beans or Dwarf Beans can be sown in April or May in pots or raised beds.

How To Start Off French Bean Sowings
They can also be started off in root-trainers, kitchen roll tubes or pots in the mini greenhouse before planting out or if you have a packet of seeds try sowing them straight into pots as I have done. They are one of the easiest beans to grow, so why not start a few pots of them this weekend and you could be getting a July harvest of fresh beans.

Varieties of French Bean to Try:

A bowl of green & yellow beans

Yellow

• Minidor Yellow – Real Seeds – Lovely smooth bright yellow pods that survive the slugs
• Berggold from Seeds of Italy has slim yellow pods in abundance

Green

• For copycat supermarket fine green beans – try ‘Safari’ from Moreveg.co.uk
• Speedy from Moreveg.co.uk – green and very quick to grow, harvests in approx 7 weeks – I’m also trying this variety this year

Purple

• Purple Tipee from More Veg – I’m growing this variety this year as the beans grow above the leaves for easy picking and colourful veg
• Purple Queen – for the royal occassion from SowVegetables.co.uk which has purple flowers, great taste and great for growing in pots.

How To Sow French Beans in Pots or Containers

This is possibly the most quickest way to sow vegetables. Why not give it a try this weekend?

You Will Need:

• A deep container or pot,
• Multi-purpose or homemade compost,
• A Packet of french bean seeds
• Watering Can with Water
• A sunny spot for the pot to sit in

Instructions

1. Fill up the pot with multi-purpose compost. Add water retaining crystals to save on watering as containers dry out when in full sun,
2. Water the compost well,
3. Use your finger or a dibber to make 1 inch deep holes in the compost about 2-3 cm’s apart,
4. Water the holes again,
5. Open the seed packet and pop 1 seed (doesn’t matter what way up) into each hole,
6. Use the compost in the pot or add some more to fill up the holes,
7. Water well.

Point To Remember:
French Beans are tender to frost, therefore have a cloche or fleece ready, just in case frost is forecasted overnight or place pots in a mini greenhouse until after mid May in the UK.

Other Bean Related Posts:

• Tag: Beans
• How To Grow French Beans in Root-Trainers
• Transplanting or Planting Beans into Raised Beds
• Beans Glorious Beans
• Vegetable Seeds to Sow Now and Next Month
• Sign Up to my Monthly Newsletter

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