Broad Bean Failure ?

[Fat Andy]

I planted my broad beans - masterpiece green longpod - on 21 March. They're under green plastic mesh cloches. I haven't seen any sign of them yet. Do you think they've failed ?

If so, have I got time to try again ?

Thanks
FA x

[oldherbaceous]

Evening F.A, i would say there is still time for them to come through yet.
If you want, you can always have a scratch about and see whats going on underground.
And if all else fails, there is still plenty of time to sow some more.

[Geoff]

Probably succeeded in fattening some vermin.

[Johnboy]

Hi FA,
Have planted some Masterpiece Green Longpod Broad Beans in 7cm square pots today. These are my second sowing and there will be one more sowing in about a fortnight so I should not worry about time.
I grow in pots because I would lose them all to the mice if I sowed them direct. Incidentally I suspect that where your beans have gone.
JB.

[old codger]

Hi FA,
I planted some broad beans about five weeks ago they are just coming through and the pesky mice have started to dig down the side to get to the bean, so i have had to lay a net over the top of them , it seems to have stopped them.

[oldherbaceous]

A bit of a cunning fellow on the quite, is old Codger.

[Fat Andy]

Thanks for the advice folks. I don't see any sign of mice on my plot but I have recently acquired a mole. Could that be it ?

I'll wait until the weekend and if there's still no sign, I'll have another go, but I'll plant them in a trough first to make sure they germinate !

FA x

[Elaine]

Hello FA. I always sow my broadies in pots and plant them out later. I've not had any problems so far. Cheers.

[Monika]

I used to lose my broad beans to mice when I sowed them direct, so for the last few years I have sown them in roottrainers and planted them out when they are about 3 inches high. Even then, mice occasionally bite off the remaining seed bean and if they are not careful about, they bite the stem through as well! So I always have a few spares to fill the gaps, if necessary.

[Geoff]

FA : Have you had a dig to see if you can find any beans?

[Clive.]

My second row of Broad Beans is just showing under its wire cage...they went in 27 March. I put Mouse traps stapled to a block of wood alongside the rows...under a pantile supported on 4 bricks as sides. I usualy bait traps with a little bit of Potato..and have caught mice with this even when the tatey is very dry and shriveled.?!

First row of Beans is moving nicely, 27 Feb, although I thought they were not going to show..due to Rat digging under wire cage...but thankfully they all but an odd one came up...

In total I sow 4 double rows each time waiting for the previous sown rows to appear...rows 3 due to go in this week...

Now, we find we have a Rat/s that has got a taste for slug bait..and that is what they went under the wire cage for...they have now done the same and cleaned up the light sprinkling I put around the lettuce that I put out under wire cages.. We had found previously that they had made it into our store shed and eaten a quantity of slug bait....and that then perhaps explained the blue droppings we found.!!
If it's blue bait they want then I will supply them some more. ..but I hope they don't read what it says on the tub this time..

Clive.

[Fat Andy]

FA : Have you had a dig to see if you can find any beans?

Not yet Geoff, I haven't been up to the plot for a few days. I'll have a look this weekend and report back.

Thank you all for your advice.

FA

[Mike Vogel]

I don't usually sow broad beans except in October/November. This year I had too many spare, so I sowed some early in Oct as green manure. The theory is that those sown early will succumb to a hard frost, whereas those sown later Oct or Nov will be hardier. I sowed another bed at the end of Oct for use as veg. In all the beds used, potatoes had been grown last year.

Well, you're probably there already. The ones I sowed as g.m. have done brilliantly, so I haven't dug them in; just thinned a few out and let them grow. they are in flower. The later sown ones have struggled and soe have indeed succumbed to something, with the stems going brown and some not germinating.

So i filled gaps in late Feb with another lot I had discovered. These have poked their heads up and are looking very healthy.

Make what you can of that.
mike

[Johnboy]

Hi Mike,
Apart from the fact that I prefer the green seeded varieties of Broad Beans, winter sown beans here have always ended in failure.
I grew one row of Masterpiece Green Longpod the first week in March starting off in 7cm square pots in the tunnel. They have been planted out for a couple of weeks now and are going well. I have just sown in pots beans for the second row and in about two/three weeks time I will sow the third row.
I consider the yield of the green seeded varieties to be considerably greater than the white seeded varieties.
The yield is not the reason I grow them, taste is my criteria there. I always find the white seeded to be coarse and mealy whereas the green are far more succulent.
Is this me or do other people prefer the green seeded varieties for their taste.
JB.

[Clive.]

My work colleague claims to actually like the Broad Beans once they are on the meally side. ...not my cup of tea though...we like to catch them young.!!

At home on the sandier soil Dad used to over winter some some Broad Beans..at one time this used to be fine...but we abandoned it as in more recent times they have got slug chewed around the stem and sat and languished making a panned hole around the stem with wind rock...despite only being a couple of inches tall at that stage..thus they just sat and the Spring planted ones quickly overtook them..

It was own saved Green Longpod that I put in today..rows 3...and on checking the Rodent bait box today I found Slugs eating the Rat Bait
Clive.