Winter Beans no pods!

[kevindb880]

Our winter beans look really good at a distance but when you look closely there’s loads of flowers just finishing but very few pods in fact I’ve never seen so few pods!
Could it be the cold or lack of sun and bees or a bit of everything?

 

[Lincsman]

Are they too thick?

 

[David.]

They'll not be worth anything anyway.

 

[DieselRob]

They'll not be worth anything anyway.

Shoot a man whilst he’s down why don’t you

 

[kevindb880]

Never had a problem been too thick before!

 

[goodevans]

Shoot a man whilst he’s down why don’t you

Funny you said that,I only said to a mate yesterday at least a crap crop at £150 a ton isn't as bad as a crap crop at £300;a ton in a roundabout way

 

[Bogweevil]

Our winter beans look really good at a distance but when you look closely there’s loads of flowers just finishing but very few pods in fact I’ve never seen so few pods!
Could it be the cold or lack of sun and bees or a bit of everything?

Pods do take a little while to become apparent, as the pod expansion is driven by seed formation. The seeds produce the plant hormones that attract nutrients and the bigger the seeds the more nutrients are attracted and pod expansion can then be quite dramatic, although maturity then takes more time. Nothing to be done anyway - fingers crossed.

Beans are mostly self fertilising but can lose up to 15% of yield if insect pollination is lacking.

Not all flowers produce pods at the best of times and current dry weather in the SE will depress pod formation on light soils. Often worth irrigating is farm set up for this, at flowering time.

 

[Steevo]

Never had a problem been too thick before!

Agreed. Heard someone suggest today that thinner beans are better for polinators! Seemed like wishful thinking to me given a lot of pollination would be done by wind. Thicker would be better for that.

 

[Steevo]

Been to look at our beans this afternoon. Surprised how good they look and how clean too. Saw a crop with a lot of black bean aphid and expected ours to be similar but thankfully none to be found.

Interestingly, there are no pods below 18" which is probably a first ever. Often we have been scraping them off the floor before now. Should make combining much easier.

Seeing this thread I'm wondering whether the cold/late spring has been the cause of it.

 

[David.]

Shoot a man whilst he’s down why don’t you

I have beans too

 

[Bigjon44]

Aphox going on mine next week or when wind buggers off .fair bit of aphid about
Bit of teb and manganese too then shut the door.havent seen many about in it this year

 

[alomy75]

Never had a problem been too thick before!

Beans love space to grow. I had a fantastic crop grown on 45cm rows on a farm-bodged subsoiler drill once…! Thick beans won’t pod down the stem; only at the top. Don’t get me wrong there will be a crop and it will look pretty grown thick(as you’re suggesting) but if you need convincing just count the pods in your tramline plants then walk into the crop and compare.

 

[goodevans]

Beans love space to grow. I had a fantastic crop grown on 45cm rows on a farm-bodged subsoiler drill once…! Thick beans won’t pod down the stem; only at the top. Don’t get me wrong there will be a crop and it will look pretty grown thick(as you’re suggesting) but if you need convincing just count the pods in your tramline plants then walk into the crop and compare.

Count the weeds in a thin crop

 

[Bigjon44]

Count the weeds in a thin crop

Yeah mayweed likes a few gaps!

 

[yellowbelly]

Saying round here about thick drilled beans is, "They're all bag and no dinner."

Dad always reckoned you should be able to walk a horse through them, when they emerge, without it treading on any.

 

[gone]

I have had all sorts of results from thick beans, they very rarely yield well, but I have found that the following crop is way better after a thicker crop of beans than after a thin one. Even though the thin beans will usually yield better. I now try to avoid thin beans.
Anyone else found this?

 

[Steevo]

I have had all sorts of results from thick beans, they very rarely yield well, but I have found that the following crop is way better after a thicker crop of beans than after a thin one. Even though the thin beans will usually yield better. I now try to avoid thin beans.
Anyone else found this?

I guess the more plants, the more nodules, the more N left behind.

 

[gone]

I guess the more plants, the more nodules, the more N left behind.

That would be what I think and seems to follow through, just wondering had others seen similar?

 

[marshallfarm]

Aphox going on mine next week or when wind buggers off .fair bit of aphid about
Bit of teb and manganese too then shut the door.havent seen many about in it this year

The year that keeps on giving! Aphox isn’t cheap either

 

[Bogweevil]

PGRO recommend 18-20 winter bean plants per square metre, more for some cultivars and over double that for spring beans