Dwarf French Bean 'Slenderette' | The Big Veg

Name: Dwarf French Bean 'Slenderette' | The Big Veg
Brand: Laura Florals
SKU: DFBSL08
Price: 26.99 GBP
Availability: InStock

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Dwarf French Bean 'Slenderette' | The Big Veg

£26.99

Slim, dark and glossy, 'Slenderette' is the dwarf French bean for people who don't have a garden — or the patience for fiddly canes. It grows on a tidy little bush: no wigwams, no supports, nothing to blow over in the wind. Just beans.

The pods are pencil-thin and deep green, with proper flavour. The trick is to pick them young and keep picking: every handful you take tells the plant to flower and set more pods, so it carries on cropping into autumn.

It stays compact — roughly 45cm tall and 20–30cm across — so a tub or a deep pot on a sunny balcony is all it needs. It's also known for good disease resistance, which is one less thing for a first-time gardener to worry about.

One honest heads-up: beans are softies about the cold. They hate frost and sulk in cold soil, so the golden rule up here in Scotland is don't rush them outside. Warmth first, beans later.

What's in your kit

French Bean 'Slenderette' seeds
Seaweed meal, to wake up your compost
Wool pellets — they lock in moisture
Comfrey pellets — potassium-rich, which is exactly what beans want once they start flowering and podding (they make their own nitrogen, so they're not greedy feeders)
A plain-English grow guide

You bring a container (anything with drainage holes, nothing that's held paint) and a bag of peat-free compost, and you're away.

Why choose this grow kit?

Slim, tender green beans with proper flavour
A tidy little bush — no canes, wigwams or supports needed
Good disease resistance and beginner-friendly — one less thing to worry about
Plastic-free — and posted plastic-free too
Every kit funds living wage jobs and horticultural training in Ayrshire

The bit that matters most

Every Grow Box funds living wage jobs and horticultural training right here in Ayrshire, for people overcoming homelessness. So your beans do a bit more than feed you.

Ships plastic-free to mainland Great Britain.

Gardening, minus the gatekeeping.

Have a grow, Laura x

FAQs

Is this bean grow kit suitable for beginners?
Yes — this dwarf French bean is a forgiving, productive place to start. It grows on a tidy little bush with no supports or canes, in a container, with no garden needed.

Can I grow French beans in a pot or container?
Yes — grow it in a bucket, deep pot or grow bag at least 30–35cm (12–14in) wide with drainage holes, in a warm, sunny, sheltered spot. No supports needed.

What do I need to supply myself?
Just peat-free compost and a container with drainage holes. Try upcycling a container! The kit provides the seeds, natural soil feeds (seaweed meal, wool pellets and comfrey pellets) and a plain-English grow guide.

Is the packaging plastic-free?
Yes — the kit is plastic-free, and we post it plastic-free too.

Where do you deliver?
We ship across mainland Great Britain. We can't post seeds or planting material to Northern Ireland — that's a Royal Mail restriction on sending seeds, not our choice.

Grow Guide

Beans are softies about the cold — that's the one thing to get right. They hate frost and sulk in cold soil, so the golden rule is: warmth first, beans later.

The easy indoor start (recommended in Scotland): sow one seed per small (7.5cm/3in) pot, about 5cm (2in) deep, somewhere warm — around 18–21°C. They're up in roughly 7–14 days. Once each seedling's growing well and all frost has passed, harden it off (a week or so of days outside, nights in) before it lives outdoors for good.

Or sow straight outdoors: from late May into June, once the soil's genuinely warm and frost is well behind you — beans are sensitive to cold soil and will rot rather than sprout if rushed. Sow 5cm (2in) deep, spacing seeds about 15–20cm apart (roughly five plants in a 35cm pot).

Worth doing for outdoor sowings — a short soak. A few hours in cold water before sowing (or overnight at most) softens the seed coat so they get going faster, and the quicker they're up, the less chance mice and birds have to dig them up — they love a dry bean seed. Don't overdo it, though: beans left soaking too long, or sown into cold wet soil, rot easily. Warmth matters more than the soak.

No support needed — this dwarf, bushy type holds itself up. Keep it weed-free and protect the young plants from slugs while they're small.

Beans make a lot of their own nitrogen out of thin air (that's the legume magic), so they're not greedy — the trick is timing what you give them.

Wool pellets — once your seedlings are up. Scatter the wool in a ring around the base of each seedling, on the surface (not mixed in). It's a slug barrier — slugs love a young bean — and it slows the compost drying out. A loose ring, off the stem; wool swells when wet.

Comfrey and seaweed — from about 6 weeks. Fresh peat-free compost feeds the plants for their first month or so, so there's no need to feed at sowing. From around 6 weeks, just as they come into flower and start podding, sprinkle the comfrey and seaweed over the surface around the base and water in. The comfrey's the one that earns its keep: potassium-rich, exactly what beans want once they're flowering and setting pods. Feed earlier only if growth looks pale.

Watering: keep the compost evenly moist and never let it dry right out once the plants are flowering and podding — that's when a dry spell costs you beans. Container plants dry fast, so check daily in warm weather. Water around the base rather than over the leaves.

Pick from roughly late July into October, once the pods are about 10–12cm long, slim and tender — before the beans inside start to bulge.

The secret is to pick young and keep picking. Every handful you take tells the plant to flower and set more pods, so a regularly-picked plant just keeps cropping into autumn. Leave pods to grow old and stringy on the plant and it takes that as its cue to stop. Go over it every couple of days once it's going.

Beans have a lovely habit: the more you pick, the more they give. There's real joy in wandering out, filling your hands with pods, and knowing there'll be more tomorrow — dinner you grew, on repeat.

None of these mean you've done anything wrong — it's just beans being beans.

Seeds rot instead of sprouting: almost always cold, wet soil, or sown too early. Wait for real warmth, and don't overwater before they're up.
Seeds vanish after sowing: mice and birds love bean seed. An indoor start dodges both; for outdoor sowings, a quick soak to speed them up helps.
Seedlings stripped or vanishing overnight: slugs. The ring of wool pellets is your barrier; a torch-lit patrol finishes the job.
Flowers dropping without setting pods: usually heat stress or dry roots at flowering time. Keep the water steady once it's in flower.
White, dusty coating on the leaves (powdery mildew): common late in the season, worse if the plant dries out. Water at the base, give it airflow, and keep picking.

Stuck on something not listed? Message us — that's genuinely what we're for.

New to this? Here's what's true for every kit we sell.

Compost — you supply your own peat-free compost. Any good bag will do. We don't include it (it's heavy, and you may already have some).

Container — almost anything with drainage holes works: an upcycled bucket, a trough, a big pot. No holes means waterlogged roots, so make some if there aren't any. We don't send a planter on purpose — growing in what you've already got is cheaper and greener.

Light — most things want a bright spot: a sunny windowsill, or outside once the weather's kind. Each guide tells you what that plant prefers.

Gardening, minus the gatekeeping. If a step ever reads like jargon, that's on us, not you.

Every Laura Florals kit is built around what your plant actually needs.

Your bean kit contains:

'Slenderette' bean seeds
Seaweed meal — a gentle all-rounder to wake up your compost
Wool pellets — scatter round the base to hold moisture and keep slugs off
Comfrey pellets — potassium-rich, exactly what beans want once they're flowering and podding
A plain-English grow guide

What you supply: peat-free compost, and a container with drainage holes (nothing painted for edibles) — an upcycled bucket, deep pot or grow bag is perfect.

Everything ships plastic-free. We can only post seeds and planting material to mainland Great Britain — sorry, Northern Ireland, that's a Royal Mail rule, not ours.

We will work quickly to ship your order as soon as possible. Once your order has shipped, you will receive an email with further information. Delivery times vary depending on your location.

Our goal is for every customer to be totally satisfied with their purchase. If this isn't the case, let us know and we'll do our best to work with you to make it right.