Topic: beans-or the lack

[macmac]

Is anyone having trouble with their beans? ???We've grown both runners and climbing french for years but this year they're not flowering properly and the beans are sparse :(It's not just ours a couple of seasoned "pros" on the lottie seem to have the same problem. any suggestions? and don't say Tescos :P

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

runner beans - normal and spagna are flowering prolifically. Pods set on the spagna. Borlotti, Tarbais and Marvel of Venice  FBs lots of foliage, not many flowers. Cobra FB not much foliage or flowers, but looks healthy enough

[saddad]

Spagna growing well but not setting... I think the wet/windy weather has kept the bees away...  :-\

[sarah]

my french beans (dwarf and climbing) are not doing great, they look healthy but very few flowers and beans. The climbers seem to be picking up a little as i noticed some new flowers today but the dwarfs are a waste of space. other years they have been heaving. My runners in a different part of the garden are dripping with blooms. I dont think it can be lack of insect life as i have plenty of that and everything else has been pollinated fine. loads of raspberries and flowers etc.

i sowed some extra frenchies a couple weeks ago and will be keen to see if they do any better. O well, some years there are non starters. last year it was corgettes for me.

[Digeroo]

Runner Beans Celebration setting well, others bit iffy.  Plenty of flowers.

[small]

My best and earliest set for years, my own saved seed from  Enorma about 25 years ago - they are slightly sheltered by the greenhouse from the prevailing wind so maybe that's why they are doing well this year. I did keep them watered in the hot dry spell.

[Robert_Brenchley]

My climbing French beans were finished off by the flood a week or so ago, but the pea beans are OK.

[littlebabybird]

my beans are dreadful, patchy germination, slow growth, few flowers
on the other hand my cow peas are doing great.
lbb

[thifasmom]

my runners, climbing and dwarf french are doing well but the borlotto although it is looking very healthy and full of leaf there has been only two flowers, today i thought there was signs of one of them setting :-\.

[powerspade]

My Runners are at the top of the poles and in full flower, I have beans froming about 1.5 inches long. My dwarf beans however are rubbish

[PurpleHeather]

They do like a rich soil but honestly beans are very early this year I rather think that the heat and rain we have had has forced on the growth of the plants

I feel sure that so long as the plants look otherwise healthy they will produce flowers and beans will follow.

My broadbeans are all harvested. The runners are well over the top of the frame and have tons of flowers. French beans both dwarf and climbing seem to be coming along steadily but not as fast as the runners which are way ahead of time.

[lorna]

Mine (Enorma) are rubbish. Think I may plant in a more sheltered spot, between greenhouse and garage next year. We do have really strong winds in the Fens.
The trench was filled with well rotted horse manure, suppled by Granddaughters horse.

[amphibian]

Spagna growing well but not setting... I think the wet/windy weather has kept the bees away...  :-\

I thought beans self pollinated before the flower even fully opens, no bees required.

It's been dry here, we have no visible bean set yet.

[Deb P]

My experiment of growing climbing french beans behind tomatoes on a frame seems to be working well, the beans are well above the tomatoes now, and the tomatoes seem very healthy too. My plan is that when the tomatoes get blight (as they inevitably seem to get every summer........)and I have to remove them to ripen the fruit in the shed, the beans will still be there so I won't have wasted any space. Well, that's the plan anyway....... :-\

[plot51A]

Loadsa beans here. The runners on the left are from saved seed given to me by a lottie neighbour - some white flowered, some red flowered and some painted lady. Have grown a mixture of all but so far only the white flowered plants have produced pickable beans. The others have set. Also have some Wisley Magic, my usual favourite, not yet in production. The french beans on the right are Cupidon, which have been wonderful this year, have eaten a lot, frozen some. The beans in the middle are from a climbing french bean that hasn't climbed, and I have lost the label, can anyone perhaps identify them? Also got borlottis and orca beans in flower. Think I may grow fewer beans next year but do love 'em!

[landimad]

I don't think your alone with this as my beans are just coming into their own. I have one bean which is ready and the rest are about an inch long. I think that I had put them in a bit late and they have yet to show what a good cropper they are.

[caroline7758]

Pickedmy first few dwarf french yesterday- amixture of varieties sent by someone here- checked my pm's but can't remember who it was. :-[

[Digeroo]

I thought beans self pollinated before the flower even fully opens, no bees required.

French beans self fertile but runners and broad beans not self fertile so need bees,  usually bumblebees.   

Spagna is technically a runner bean rather than a butter bean so presume that it needs those bees.

[Justy]

my first lot of french beans that I started inside were rubbish and died as soon as they were planted out but the ones that I planted direct are doing well.

[midnightvelvet]

Mine aren't brilliant either although they've just started to 'whoosh' a bit this past week or so in terms of height and leaf growth.  There are a few flowers on the enorma plant and I picked about four beans today but nothing else seems to be doing very well.  My inaugural attempt at broad beans was a dismal failure but I take the blame for that in part, being new etc.

Maybe it will be a late kick off this year and we'll all get a glut in a few weeks? :)