Question about Beans!

[cstronks]

Hey all,

Just wanted to pose a question about bean seedlings and such. I live in NJ, and the weather the past three days was absolutely beautiful. Two days were over 80 degrees, and the nights were a cool 65-70, almost like a summer night in April. Anyways, I guess the hot weather got me a little excited, and I went ahead and planted bean seeds in the garden on Friday, April 11. Well tonight has a low of 30 degrees and there is a light snow coming down. Tomorrow night is supposed to be 32 and then after that the Thursday low is 39, followed by 42-46 degree nights from Friday on. My question is this...will my bean seeds in the ground be ok?? I don't expect them to sprout for another few days, hopefully once these cold nights have passed, but I'm not sure they will with this cold. Daytime temperatures are around 60-65 degrees, so the soil will warm up after being cold all night. Did I plant too early? Are these seeds hopeless and due not to germinate? Has anybody been in a similar position, where there was a frost over their bean seeds and had success? Please let me know! Thanks!!

 

[bugflipper]

Should be fine. As you know they would have been done for if already sprouted. It may take them a while to come up with the soil temp still cold but they will pop up when warm enough. Hopefully in 2-3 weeks.

 

[cstronks]

Thanks for the reply. I planted them because the forecast was basically 70 degrees for the entire week, and then suddenly we had a small cold snap. I figured they would stay warm enough in the soil, which is a good thing. I have a ton of seeds, and they were planted on the 11th, so if I don't see any germination in 2 weeks or so, I'll go ahead and re-seed. Thanks again!

 

[Fluffnpuff]

Should be fine. As you know they would have been done for if already sprouted. It may take them a while to come up with the soil temp still cold but they will pop up when warm enough. Hopefully in 2-3 weeks.

What he said. If the beans had already sprouted they would have died. April is too early to plant beans in most zones. I'm in zone 6 and i plant beans at the end of may until mid june.

 

[cstronks]

That is where I am, however I have had a lot of luck planting beans from late April until june with great success. This past week temps reached 80, so I figured I would give it a shot. They haven't sprouted yet, but I am hoping they do in a week or so.

 

[lazy gardener]

You can always cover them in the evening with anything to hold the heat from the day. Put plastic over them, or my favorite: Since my garden is under a layer of mulch, you can just pull it over the row, and push it back when things warm up during the day.