Beans - French

Type: Vegetable

Rotation Group: 3, Legumes


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COBRA (Climbing)

Extremely heavy cropping variety producing masses of round, stringless beans each about 7 inches long. Cobra is a climbing French bean producing crops continuously over a long period.
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PRIMAVERA

Heavy cropping dwarf French bean producing pencil podded beans about 6 inches long that are easy to pick. Beans are full of flavour and plants have good disease resistance.
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SAFARI

A quick maturing plant producing great crop of uniform stringless beans on dwarf plants. Beans are about 5 inches long and are very tasty. Plants have good disease resistance.
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DELINEL

This is an outstanding variety for both crop yield and flavour producing beans about 6 inches long. Delinel is a dwarf French bean that crops continuously over a long period.

Site, Soil and Preparation

French beans prefer a warm, sheltered, rich, well drained soil that has been prepared in advance in autumn with generous amounts of garden compost or manure. They also need a neutral pH soil and will require the addition of lime if the soil is acidic.

Indoor Sowing

French beans can be sown direct outside in warm weather, but are usually started indoors in root trainers or 75mm (3in) pots at a depth of 50mm (2in).

Outdoor Sowing

In warm weather sow outdoors from mid-May, with 2 beans together at a depth of 50mm (2in), 100mm (4in) apart with rows 450mm (1 1/2ft) apart.

Thinning

Thinning of bean plants should not be needed if planted at the correct spacings.

Transplanting

Transplant indoor sown french beans to their outdoor positions, after hardening off, in late May or early June and plant at the same spacings as given for outdoor sowing.

Care

Provide sticks or netting to support dwarf varieties or rows of 2400mm (8ft) canes for climbing varieties. Pinch out the tops of the plants when they reach the top of the canes. Water plants frequently, especially during hot spells, and more generously when pods start to form.

Harvest

Harvest the pods whilst still young as soon as they reach 100-150mm (4-6in).