I sowed some broad beans on the 25th February. I now have 39 plants ranging from 1ft to 1.5ft. Some of them have flowers on them. Presently they are in my greenhouse at my allotment. I have a raised bed system at my allotment. Last year my broad beans suffered from blackfly and as I was relatively new to vegetable growing I didn't know about pinching out the tips which I gather would have helped. Should I plant my broad beans in a bed now or leave it longer? Do they need to be pollinated for pods to grow? Should I pinch out the tips now or wait til pods have formed? I really don't want the disappointment that I had last year.
Any ideas would be welcome.
Thanks
I'd get them in ASAP.... unless you've got them in massive pots you won't get much of a harvest off them.... Plus beans have a pretty aggressive root system, they'll get potbound and you won't be able to get them to flourish when they do go out...I normally start them in 15-module trays (one per module) transplant to 4" pots as soon as they get their first true leaves and start hardening off, two weeks later (at about 6") they go into the ground....
chrisc
I'm growing Broad Beans for the first time this year and they'd doign ok planted direct into the ground at the moment. I'm interested about what you said about 'pinching the tips off' though... What's that all about, when should I be doing that?
Sorry for hijacking the thread by the way lol :)
one reason is blackfly go for the tips
another is the tips are nice to eat
Quotepinching the tips off' though... What's that all about,
An extract from my website;
Circa Week 25; Remove the top three inches of the growing tip from each plant to deter 'blackfly'.
An alternative time to do this is after five sets of flowers have set.These black aphids overwinter on shrubs and migrate to beans in spring.
If the above treatments fail to prevent their presence, treat them as soon as they are seen.
For organic gardeners; spray insecticides based on derris, fatty acids, plant and fish oil or pyrethrum to the underside of foliage.
If this fails, consider using a synthetic insecticide containing bifenthrin.
Note; I prefer the alternative method highlighted.
I have found that sometimes going for more flower can be your downfall. True if it works you get more beans but if it doesn't you have possibly lost the other five lots of flowers (pods)
The choice is yours! 8)
I never pull the tips off. I usually grow Aquadulce Claudia, which shrugs the fly off like it wasn't there. A couple of other varieties I tried got swamped, but then the weather last year was so bad they probably didn't have much chance. Soapy water is enough to kill blackfly if you're desperate.
What I forgot to mention is;
Autumn sown beans could be a different ball game (I don't know never grown them) because the may mature at a time i.e. when the blackfly is not around.
Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
They mature earlier when there aren't so many fly. If you plant them in spring, then you still get the fly. What I've noticed is that it's only the odd plant that gets covered, and they still produce beans.