2025 Little Easy Bean Network - Growers Of The Future Will Be Glad We Saved

[Decoy1]

Can I ask where you found the root trainers? I searched for them a few years ago and the only place I found them available had a minimum order amount of over $200 I believe.

Roottrainers have been available in UK for years. They’re not very cheap but I guess affordable. They’re a great design in most ways but the snag is that they’re quite thin plastic and for the money don’t last long. I ended up with piles of half roottrainers because the hinges broke, so I eventually went over to more substantial deep trays of 40 modules which last for ever.

Of course, the Canadian version might be more robust but if they’re made by the same company, just be prepared for them to collapse after a few uses - or be extra careful.

 

[flowerbug]

i looked at those and thought that perhaps that was very thin plastic and not metal. nowadays you get many garden plants in very thin cells which almost collapse if you look at them wrong - which is good in terms of not wasting materials but is bad for not being able to reuse the containers again.

thanks for the review/info.

 

[Anniekay]

Unfortunately Vesey's no longer ships to the US.

Yep. Thank the Orange Emperor for that !!

 

[Branching Out]

is that gray box a part of the purchase?

Yes, the gray box is part of the purchase. It's made of exceptionally sturdy plastic. The assembly also comes with a vented dome cover. Vesey's offers a 10 year guarantee with this product, and I can see it lasting a really long time.

And good news-- it looks like they are available in the U.S. too, via Gardeners Supply.

 

[Decoy1]

Yes, the gray box is part of the purchase. It's made of exceptionally sturdy plastic. The assembly also comes with a vented dome cover. Vesey's offers a 10 year guarantee with this product, and I can see it lasting a really long time.

And good news-- it looks like they are available in the U.S. too, via Gardeners Supply.

Looking back at your photos, your roottrainers are definitely not the same as the version which has been sold under that name in UK. They certainly look much sturdier. And they don’t operate with a hinge which has always been a weakness in the UK version, as once the hinge goes there’s no way of fastening the two halves together.
The Canadian version looks a great improvement.

 

[flowerbug]

...And they don’t operate with a hinge which has always been a weakness in the UK version, as once the hinge goes there’s no way of fastening the two halves together.
The Canadian version looks a great improvement.

duct tape won't do it?

 

[heirloomgal]

I put my first and only beans straight into the ground today, the Sakaguchi Kang Wong runner bean seeds. I overplanted just in case, and I have quite a lot of seed now so I can manage that luxury of overplanting. The weather has been pretty decent at night, going mostly as low as 14C/52F. Of course, now now that I planted the seeds tonight we drop to 5C/41F, lol. My hope is that runner beans are more tolerant of that kind of cold dip. But I also started some in pots, just in case.

I am about 1/3 done with getting saplings for the beans, it's been very mosquito rich in the forest so the trips have been fairly brief. I've been wearing my puffy winter coat and DS who has been helping haul the birch poles out, has his on too with a balaclava. I'd wear gloves if it didn't make holding the cutter slippery, my hands get bitten. But the garden beds are all ready, and all the beans have been planted in pots in the sunroom. Tonight I put a heater on for them. I am loving this potting mix, it's so light and airy. The beans will germinate well in it, and there is very little chance of oversaturation. My new sprayer is working great to moderate water application too.

So now...I sit on a pin and wait to see sprouts!

Oh! Also! If anyone knows the growth habit of these beans, please share. I received them in a trade and there is no growth habit listed on the packages, and they are rare enough to not get any google hits. So I'm trying to figure out where to put them relative to their growth type.

*Cranberry Onondaga
*Tennessee Indian Purple Pod
*Brown Eyed Bobby
*Black Snake (P. vulgaris type)