Dan 2007: You should try to get them in the ground as early as possible. Last year, I found an online source that said, for each day's delay planting after April 1st, there was roughly a 2% decline in yield. This is due to the strong photoperiodism in favas. Later planting results in smaller and smaller plants. I think I posted a link to this on the bean/pea forum in a fava thread. You might try searching for it if intested. Or, if you want, I can try to find the data again later, don't have time right now to do it, unfortunately. I planted mine last year on March 30th, and they did just fine, germinating well and weathering several boughts of very cold weather and snow after sowing and germination. I'm in the N.W. suburbs of Detroit, so we have the same weather.

Hi blondetazz0924 It is best to wait 'til Spring for re-potting. No, the stems do not have to be straight. It's natural for them to lean over. If your plants are in 4" pots use a 6' pot when you re-pot. I usually buy three 4" pots and put all of them into an 8" hanging basket. It's easier to keep them watered (for me), plus you get a nice full plant. I use African Violet potting mix. I hope someone else responds with better advice. This is just what I do and I'm not saying it's right, but it works for me. You might try Googleing How to grow xmas cactus. That peach color sounds yummy. Are you able to post pictures? greenhouser--well, that isn't any fun! Hopefully they will ship some your way soon. Did you buy any last year? Enjoy your plants, everyone. cyberdancer

If any of you prefer to use PayPal, instead of cash or check, my PayPal ID/account is under Smiley@WorkingMastiffs.com. I figure that $4.50 per plant is fair, to cover the original cost of $3.50 per plant and the FedX charge to ship them to me from Agristarts. Okay with you all? Thank you Barb for your FAST payment and sweet note! Hope you enjoy your new 'Nanas! Vireyafla, it was so nice to meet you! Hope you will start coming to swaps so everyone can enjoy your company! Lisa

Hi koeksoetie - I have a genetic tendency towards vegetable gardening; learned a lot from my Dad and Rudolph Steiner teachings before biodynamics was named such ;-) One of the tricks he taught me was to keep a diary and I have done so for years. That way I can reference the varieties I've planted over the years and see how they fared in different locations. I plant my broad beans quite closely because they then become self supporting - particularly in this windy garden - I actually use them as a windbreak and I do favour the dwarf varieties although they do get quite tall. Craig, all the ones I've grown turn various shades of brown when dried. There are white seeds and green seeds and the white ones are probable what you'd call a light tan where the green ones tend to have more iron in them and get darker when they are dried out. I hope I didn't mislead you by implying that dwarfs were only for spring sowing. In fact this is the first year I'm doing an autumn planting but I have a note next to Aquadulce that it thrives in autumn planting - so I must have planned on planting them at some time. Some varieties take longer than others to mature - anything from 90 to 150 days and I understand that the autumn planting of long maturing varieties like Aquadulce will burgeon in spring and even catch up to spring planted ones, so I reckon its more a matter of the spring planting ones will mature quickly. Peter Cundall reckons that you should plant in autumn if you have any tendency to rust or broad bean mite so that the colder conditions will kill the nasties. It depends on your climate. Here is Tas I can grow them right up to early December. I'll be saving seed this year. Mostly I crop them for drying after we've had a good few feeds. They are a rewarding crop. Will let you know when I have seeds available.