Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Jeannine on July 10, 2008, 22:38:59
-
As some of you know I have been unable to do any lottie gardening this year so OH has bulit me 8 raised beds at home. They are all made the same, same height, same wood same sunshine etc and all filled with new commercial compost. What is interesting is what is growing well and not.
The potato bed is smashing, the roots are romping away, the squash bed is great and so is the brassica bed, the salad one is fine too, onions are good, outside toms are doing well ...BUT... the beans are dreadful. I have several types in the bed, none are doing anything much, some went out as plants and others as seeds and all are are useless????
I have always found beans to be one of the easiest things to grow too.
Ideas welcome
XX Jeannine
-
Jeannine,
I was sorry to to hear of your incapacity.
I have found that after more than 50 years of growing vegetables, I would never now retreat from raised beds.
There are many reasons why plants do not grow and this year in particular my beans are not doing well.
You are an experienced gardener and I have every confidence that you will succeed.
Welome back!
-
Lots of people have been complaining about how badly their beans are doing this year.
-
Thank you both, perhaps just coincidence then.
XX Jeannine
-
I'm in the southwest and my beans - both french climbing and gigandes are doing very poorly indeed. Seems to be a bad year for beans in some places.
Tricia
-
Mine are way behind last years, they are coming......slowly though.
-
My runners have grown at snail's pace - French beans have done a bit better. One possibility though, is that your raised beds were drying out a bit quickly during the good weather we had a month or so back: this would affect the beans more than the other crops you mention.
-
I planted late this year and that seems to have been good for the French beans which are now flowering so hopefully soon producing. Runners are getting there too. Given that I'm in Scotland I don't expect much of a crop before the end of July but then it sometimes continues until November.
-
Planting late? These are still waiting to go in ..... :-[
[attachment=1]
-
I've still got quite a few trays of stuff to go out too, I tried to be a bit more prepared in case blight struck early and wiped put all of my potatoes and outdoor tomatoes leaving me with nothing to follow on.
My runner beans are going out this weekend, my dwarf french beans are fantastic, starting to crop now, but the climbers are.....pants! It's as if they don't know how to climb. and are just sitting there sulking. :-\ I've grow a few HSL varieties this year, so haven't got any left to try sowing direct to see if they do any better...at this rate I won't be getting enough to try or save! :o
-
My beans were very slow to get going, but seem alot better now. Would love to see some photos of your set up jeannine.
-
My runners, butler and enorma, are now at the top of their poles and flowering like mad, I have even picked a few from the lower levels. Having said that they were planted out very early and I was lucky I didn't loose them to frost, a lot on our site did but I am near the top of the (gentle) slope.
My dwarf french are rubbish, slow growth and almost no effort to produce a crop. I think sometimes a crop won't do that well for whatever reason. Last year my beetroot was a disaster, this year I have tonnes of the stuff. C'est la vie.
Woppa
-
Mt Enorma have until a few days ago been rubbish but over the past few days big improvement, seems pretty general complaint this year.
-
Have to say my beans are not doing as well - I had blamed it on the cool overnight temps we had in June as they usually grow very quickly when planted out. They are having a go now though and the secod sowings of dwarf french I made as a successional crop are starting to catch up the June planted ones.
-
Started harvesting this week from the first planting of dwarf beans. I think the seedlings (which were quite developed in root trainers) went in in mid May. Second planting went in last w.e.
-
My dwarf french beans are terrible- still only about 5" tall and looking very yellow despite lots of feeding.
-
just harvested some purple podded beans, they were sowed in rootrainers in march, planted out end of april..the others, planted out in may, are very slow, a few flowers, no beans ;D
-
I planted my French beans out only a couple of weeks ago and they are doing a lot better than last year as they have leaves on. i have both climbing and dwarf...though i have had to add supports for them today as they are growing tall. The dwarf beans are just about to flower. Last year they were just stalks after the slugs ate them but I did get a good harvest off my almost leafless climbing beans last year.
-
My runner beans are very slow.Had a great crop last year so disappointing so far,live in hope though :)
-
My French, runner and dwarf broad beans are all rubbish - although I have to say Black Fly seems to be the problem with the broad beans. :'(
-
I ended up having to resow my beans, they seemed to disolve into mush. They are doing fairly well now, but way behind last years.
-
Here in the South East I am disappointed in my dwarf beans, the "tepee" type that hold the beans up above the leaves. I have picked some, but they won't go on for long, small weak plants. Runners and climbing french beans are well up their poles and starting to flower, but not looking as robust as usual.
The gigandes are 7' foot tall and flowering, but no beans yet.
-
Having had our runner flayed by the winds last year, and only getting flowers from 3 feet up, we planted late.
We also have walls of micro-mesh, 3ft and 4ft tall, which get used for protecting all sorts of crops(canes in sewn pockets hold them up.)
This year they went around the bean teepees first, and when the winds arrived again(and again), the newly planted beans were sheltered - at the cost of just a few snapped canes. All types are now flowering right to the tops.
(And their walls are round the carrot beds to foil the fly, and keeping cabbage whites off the brassicas)
-
My beans are rubbish too (dwarf french).
The weather hasn't helped - seemingly continuous grey,cloud and heavy rain.
When is the sun going to shine???
Debs :(
-
Broadies have been romping away - lots eaten, frozen and given away
Early Frenchies - prolific - most have been frozen for the winter
Climbing frenchies - getting off to a good start
Runners - slow to start, but now loads of flowers tho few are setting
Borlotti - dwarf coming along steadily, climbers almost totally eaten by pigeons
Will be sowing late frenchies soon
-
mine are finally improving, the purple podded have been fab, the runners now have tiny beans on them but no where near last years standard yet, i was even earlier this year then last but its made no difference at, my other french beans are now well in flower but no more then that, can only hope for a late crop, sad fact is i am away and therefore they will ripen when my friend is staying, still at least they wont go to waste :)
-
When I went to feed the French beans this Tuesday, to my amazement I found that there were actually about a pound of beans once picked. I had not really seen any major flower action there and the plants do not seem as strong as last year but the beans lower down seem to have made it. I gave all the beans a good feed of seaweed and made a note the bean frame and its environs need a major weeding.
I also harvested some lovely beetroot and once home managed to pickle 3 pounds of beetroot and blanched the French beans for the freezer. Just enough to either add to a stew or serve as a vegetable side dish. I am however sure that I will be adding to them shortly.
Jitterbug
-
had lots of trouble with beans this year! most have started up the canes but a few in the middle just wither and die :'( I have transplanted healthy ones from other places but the same happens to them
going to dig out the earth and replace it and put a different bean I,v stated off in modules and see if it makes a difference then pray for a good autumn :D
marg
-
i was begining to think it was me, being a newbie, but my beans arent up to much either, the dwarfs flower but never any blumin beans, we proudly picked all 4 off the borlottis last weekend (desperate for beans n ate them like runners!) jacks bean stalk (kids) well lets just say they wont be any giants on that stalk, there may be plenty of clouds but theres no good if theyre not reaching them, red king i think the others are not up to much either, going to try and get a small sowing of other types in but as i cant even get them started at home now i dont think im liable to get anywhere, may just pop a few in round the base of the others, somehow i think even if they do start theyre not going to crowd each other, siiigh, i thought beans were meant 2b easy????
-
Loopylou. don't give up. they are usually easy, I started this thread and was very puzzled as to what is happening, usually I am overwhelmed with them, tomorrow I am pulling my dwarfs out and using the space for something else. I generally grow lots of varieties. Just a bad year I think XX Jeannine
-
My runners are only just flowering - had to replace them a while back because they died in frosts. Looking very weak and pale despite plenty of manure and raised bed.
I have some dwarf green beans ready to go out this weekend hopefully. I sowed them in a greenhouse that i keep largely closed and they have been flowering for weeks - i can see little pods on them! Any runners i put in greenhouse died quickly from the heat...
-
Hi, the B/B are large this year and the crop is the best for over ten years. The runners are slow to start but we've had two meals and put one bag into the freezer. Again the climbing french beans are slow to start, but we,ve had one picking for ourselves and my grandaughter pick enough this morning to see my daughters family thro the week.
-
My french beans and my runners are all picking up now, dwarf broad beans are dreadful though and not a pea plant in sight. Can anyone recommend a late pea I could try?
-
Hi Posie, don't try a late type as they are too long in the ground to come to maturity, try Early onward, feltham first kelvedon wonder or little marvel. Any of those should only be in the ground for twelve weeks until they crop.
-
I love this site - I now feel much better about my awful beans. This is my first year growing them. After I successfully grew potatoes (Wiljas) in tubs last year, I was excited about growing other veggies in tubs this year. My onions have bolted, my potatoes (Epicures) are low cropping, my peas have outgrown their supports and wave about in the wind, AND - the bl**dy squirrel keeps digging my corn and leeks out to bury his peanuts!!! Is it just a bad year? Back to the drawing board ......
Anyone else "tub gardening"? Would be interesting to compare.
Meg :'(
-
Hi Meg
I've just taken on an allotment, and have got various things growing in tubs whilst I prepare the ground (long job!). My dwarf runners and dwarf french beans have been rubbish, picking about 3 beans off each week! My sweetcorn are going slowly (but surely) and lots of flowers on the toms, so hopefully Ok there. Courgettes doing OK too. That's about all I've tried so far.
It's amazing what you can achieve in a few tubs though (when the rabbits will leave me alone!).
-
Yes Oakmore - it certainly is amazing - although I am a bit unsure about what to do with the compost after I have harvested - I have grown peas this year in the same compost I grew potatoes in last year and it seems to be ok - I think i can grow brassicas next year before I have to dump the compost. It is quite an expensive hobby if I cant :)
Meg
-
Thanks LesH. I had 1 teeny weeny seedling that came up beginning of this week and despite careful nurturing, lots of talking to it - it sadly kicked the bucket this morning! So off to the garden centre I go lol