Topic: Cobra beans not climbing........

[tricia]

I have two tubs of climbing beans - Neckar Koenigin, which have climbed to the top of the wigwam, have flowers but as yet no beans - and Cobra, which started producing beans on 13 June. The odd thing is that the Cobra plants just won't climb - they are really bushy but no more than one meter up the canes. Could this have something to do with the fact that they were grown from an out of date packet (2008)? They gave me 100% germination - much better than the Neckar Koenigin so I thought they would be okay. I'm picking 12 or so pods every few days, which is nice as I only have to cook for one person - me!

Tricia

[RenishawPhil]

My haven't climbed either !

[chriscross1966]

I'm havng a bad time with beans, I'm wondering if some of my manure was contaminated.... eiher that or they just got too cold in that snap we had in May...

chrisc

[Jeannine]

Tricia, that is odd, they should go to almost double that. Is there any chance the seed is not Cobra,,are the flowers a lavender colour?

XX Jeannine

[RenishawPhil]

I've decided I am moving my beans next year

[BAK]

Our cobras are very slow this year. As said above, I do not think that they liked the May weather.

In previous years they have been well ahead of the runners but this year it is the other way round.

[Bugloss2009]

maybe if you got a little Indian gentleman in a loincloth to play one of those funny flutes...........

[RenishawPhil]

maybe if you got a little Indian gentleman in a loincloth to play one of those funny flutes...........

That might just work.most certainly the cold snap didn't help. Sure they will be ok in the end

[antipodes]

I grow Cobra, sometimes I find that they have two growth spurts! They grow to a certain height but they can continue to grow taller if well watered and will give a second lot of beans higher up. Mine this year are quite small though, I think it is a bit hot and dry for them.

[tricia]

Have just checked the packet - Thompson & Morgan, Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit Collection. Climbing Bean COBRA. Sow by Aug 2008, £2.29.

As I said, I had 100% germination - and yes Jeannine the flowers are lavender coloured. At least I'm getting some sort of a crop from them!

I've been out all day, but I'll take a photo of the two tubs tomorrow (unless, as forecast, it rains all day!)

Tricia

[tricia]

One can see the difference here...............

[attachment=1]

I've been feeding both tubs with chicken manure pellets.

Tricia

[Alex133]

Doubt anything to do with age of seeds, think if they germinate should be perfectly ok.
My Cobra are similar to yours in comparison to my runners although they usually grow at same sort of speed. Hit very hard by strong winds and comparatively cold nights after putting out and think that has caused abnormal growth rate with defensive early flowering.

[antipodes]

Hmmm My Cobras rarely grow taller than me (158 cm!!!) so I don't see anything wrong with that growth...