Topic: yellowing runner beans

[beckbeck]

My only crop i have managed to get in this year is runner beans(still weeding and clearing plot)but the leaves are very yellow now and the growth is slow,have just got first flowers opening allthough the plants aren't even half way up the canes,didnt have this happen to the ones i grew in  the garden last year,they were fast,vigorous and healthy and didnt put any manure in with those either,the soil on allotment is very sandy could this have something to do with it,or too much water?.Thanks from Becky.

[saddad]

I doubt they have tto much water, unless they are actually sitting in it. They are rainforest plants.. more likely too cold.
 :-\

[Kepouros]

Very sandy soil is often deficient in nitrogen - sometimes very much so - as nitrogen leaches out very easily, and the flowering at such an immature stage certainly suggests nitrogen deficiency.  Beans of all sorts put nitrogen back into the soil, and should not normally require any added nitrogen, but they do this by forming nodules on the roots once they have become established, and they need a modicum of nitrogen in the soil to start with so that they can become established. Where the soil is very deficient to start with it is sometimes necessary to ignore the rule.

I would mix a teaspoon of sulphate of ammonia in a gallon of water and water it around the plant stems - just once - and see whether this gets them going.

Before I get a lot of cries of horror let me add that I also garden on very sandy soil which I know from regular testing is very deficient in nitrogen, and I often have to use this method to get my runners moving.

[saddad]

Heavy clay has it's advantages after all..
 ;D

[Eristic]

Well I don't pay much attention to rules. My runner beans get heaps of horse manure whether they want it or not. I consider them to be gross feeders and whilst they have adapted to survive harsh conditions, we want them to go mad and feed a family from just a few plants. One wigwam, 10 canes, 10 plants and 150 ltr or so of fresh horse manure will keep me and half the allotment site in beans through till the end of October. I had my first dinner last week and expect to have a surplus to my needs before the end of July.

[beckbeck]

Thankyou for your replies, where would i get sulphate of ammonia,the soil is very sandy i have dug a spades depth down and in some parts you reach solid sand stone,the soil doesnt seem very good at the moment,which is why im still clearing weeds as throughly as i can and then covering with black plastic,carpet  etc,i will be putting in lots of organic matter-manure from local stables,guinea pig bedding,own compost (when its ready)so hopefully it will start to improve,but i will have a try with the s of a to see if it makes a difference.

[Kepouros]

Any garden shop.