Beans troubles

Camile · Beans troubles

Hello,

I’m having trouble with my runner beans in the tunnel,, they flowered well, and still are, but there are no signs of beans whatsoever, although they are reaching the top of the tunnel already.

We have some dwarf beans at their foot and they are cropping well, anything else is pollinating alright, including the peas and all …

There are big gaps on top of the doors where even birds could come in … and flowers to attract them, including borage …

So does anyone have any ideas if there is anything I can do for them ?

Or should I simply pull them out and replace them by something else.

I also have some borlotti and American wax beans there, but they are not blooming yet, so should I be worried for them too ?

Thanks,
Camile

quarryman

The old trick is to pollinate them by hand. Use a very fine paint brush [ an artist's brush about 2mm.] Into one flower, rotate and twiddle then the next flower etc. etc. etc. Same as for toms. That should do the job.

Graney

Quarryman is right ... runner beans need to be pollinated and where there aren't sufficient bees doing the job, a bit of artificial insemination is needed.

But, there are two other major reasons for them not setting. The roots must have a regular supply of moisture and not be allowed to dry out.

And .... this is particularly important in tunnels .... if the temperature is too high, especially at night, it stops the pollen germinating and so prevents beans forming. Can't say I've noticed particularly high temperatures hereabouts, but it could be under your tunnel if it's not well ventilated.

Camile

Thanks for that,

It did get warm enough a while back in the tunnel, but temperatures do drop at night ...

there is a gap on top of the doors, and the top part is a fine mesh, but I think the ventilation is ok ... as the toms and all are swinging in the wind ...

the toms seems to be polinating alright because we have a few green ones already ...

I've tried putting some honey on top of the doors to attract the bees ... even though they are about 50m away from the tunnel ...

will give it a go with the brush, but it's gonna be a time consuming affair, with the number of flowers on them ... oh well, it will make them even tastier !

thanks again,
Camile

Rebecca

How about planting some plants at the base of the beans that attract bees and pollinating insects ... borage or phacelia are cheap, cheerful and effective. I have lots throughout the tunnel and sweet pea at the entrances.

admin

One of the most common reasons why Runners don't set is that the flowers need to have some ( very small ) amount of moisture on them or the pollen won't stick in sufficient quantity . The flowers just drop and baby pods up to about 1" long wither and fall off too . This certainly happens during dry summers in the uk .
Since yours are in the poly this sounds likely even if it feels humid in there . The generally accepted solution is to mist spray with water if you can be bothered or even use a hose but don't overdo it or you will blast all the buds off anyway Wink

. Good luck .

EGirl

...this paintbrush is coming in very handy...had no idea you needed to help Toms along, or beans - as I've no fruit on either of mine I'll toddle off now & get fertilising, ta!

blowin

As you probably know , the old-timers often used a rabbit tail to transfer pollen . It is just stiff enough to poke into a small flower and has lots of very fine hairs to catch the pollen Wink

. Presumably the rabbit was no longer attached .
I have a super-duper Ox MOuntains special variation on that theme -- the tail from a wild mink . Even better IMO , more like a sable pointed brush .
Chooks each my berries , mink eat chooks , I use tail to pollinate more berries . What goes round comes round but I wish it was a bit less labour-intensive ! Laughing

Not to mention didn't involve killing things , however good the reason .

Camile

thanks for the tips,

I'm gently spraying them with the hose twice a day so will see what happens.

The toms are getting polinated because we have a few green ones already .. but some flowers just wilt and drop off .. is this normal ? or is that a polination problem too ?

Thanks,
Camile

wayland

All good stuff Wink

. Egirl, Toms are not directly pollinated by insects but by movement/vibration etc. I have found the best way to pollinate them is to just tap the support sticks/strings etc when walking by. The paint brush would do the job of course but must take forever doing each individual flower.

Cheers.

EGirl

thanks for that, I have a few small green ones on one of my plants and plenty of flowers on the others, so I'll get tapping!!! Laughing

Camile, I was just giving up on my beans this year too. Like yourself, I have lots of flowers on tall plants but no sign of young beans, I looked yesterday though and lo and behold, a mass of tiny beans are starting. I'm bound to have a glut, but they do freeze well. I think the wet weather helped them! Keep up with the misting and when the flowers fall you'll get a crop.

ex Wink

greentree

Just checked my broadbeans and there seems to be very few pods. A lot of the flowers have just turned black and fallen off without any pods forming. I wonder why this is. The weather has not been too hot or cold and my beans are outside. The peas beside them are covered in pods...

Graney

It just seems to have been a bad year for broad beans.

Last year they were six feet tall and they produced more beans than we could possibly eat. This year they've barely got to three feet and the crop is very poor.

Guess it must just be a combination of weather conditions that haven't suited them.