Indian Beans

Long, long ago, well, last year actually, I ended up in an Indian shop about 15 miles from home. While everyone else was eyeing up the Indian sweets, I paid a little more attention to the discarded box that lay near the till. In this box were Indian bean seeds that no one had purchased. These had been imported from India. The instructions were in Hindi and as I am illiterate in the language, I couldn't read it. The shop keeper took pity on me and gave me the packet of seeds. It must have been something to do with my usual helpless, lost, doe eyed look. We chatted about my efforts at growing vegetables. I told him that one day, I was going to grow lovely plants in India where the weather is hot.

Of course, the Indian seeds made my day. While my thoughts focussed on the seeds, the rest of my family "sighed" at yet another one of my eccentric interests in growing foreign plants. I believe everyone felt it would be an impossible task.

I had never grown Indian beans in England before. I pattered home to try and germinate them in normal weather last summer. We all thought at least one bean tree had been a success until it was a case of mistaken identity. It actually grew into a large Sunflower who laughed at me for nurturing it so well for months. So, essentially, one sunflower seed at fallen in. The rest of the bean seeds had not germinated at all possibly because the temperature had not been high enough. 

This year was a little different. Initially germination took place indoors. The result was the above. I used  simple good quality compost, a well heated area with daily watering. They needed plenty of light.

These are flat Indian beans. Hopefully, they will be successful. We shall see. So far so good. The next update will be in a few weeks. It will be interesting to see if these plants survive the English weather.