Citizen Twiglet and the Enormous Beanstalks....

[citizentwiglet]

Just working on an ish update of a fairy tale classic...!

I sowed some dwarf beans in old loo rolls a wee while back, put them on the windowsill and they are doing fine. A bit TOO fine, in fact, as they are now threatening to burst through the ceiling.

OK, bit of an exaggeration, but they are getting too large; but looking at our good ol' Scottish weather I'm not sure whether the frosts have passed yet to get them outside (don't have a greenhouse).

The uppermost leaves are getting very large - to the detriment, it seems, of some of the lower leaves which seem to be withering away (although I do have new leaf shoots forming at the top, between the larger leaf pairings). Question - do I need to pinch off the larger uppermost leaves in order to allow nutrients to other areas? Or leave them as they are and risk them being rather bald and straggly towards the bottom? I envisage it'll be around another 2 weeks before I can plant them outside.

Thanks in advance, peeps!

[MKG]

It's ages since i grew broad beans (this year is the first since I was soooo high) but I seem to remember that you pinch out the growing tip AFTER you get the first flower sets to avoid the dread blackfly.

[marshlander]

I'd put them outside during the day and bring them in at night to harden them off.