Friday 3 June 2016

Three Steps to Bean Heaven


Some titles are unavoidable...



From the top: peas, broad beans and runner beans.  As you will have gathered I grow these at home and plant them out at the plot. Here they are ready for the off.  There are some signs of storm damage from the recent hail but all are now taking to life at the allotment quite happily.

In case you are wondering about broad beans going out at the same time as runner beans, this is the second batch.  The first were sown direct at the plot 6 to eight weeks ago.  Something was digging them up, something else was nibbling the edges of the leaves in characteristic scalloped bitemarks.  The slugs also had a good go at them, So all in all they were a disaster.  4 sickly sticks with few if any leaves remained.  This is the reinforcements, already up and ready for a fight.

Last year I transplanted peas for the first time and they were a success.  I've only ever sown them direct in the past.  Hope this year is as good as the last.

11 comments:

  1. I always raise my beans in pots and transplant them. It reduces the casualties, for sure. The Scalloped or notched edges of the leaves are caused by Flea Beetles. They are particularly fond of Broad Beans.

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  2. I've only sown runner beans this year but straight into the ground for a change. Three popped through so I have chanced another sowing.

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    1. I bet you still get a deluge of beans come harvest time, Jo

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  3. Bean weevils cause the notched edges on our peas and broad beans. They're only little but there are a lot of them so cause quite a bit of damage on our plot

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    1. Yup looking at the pictures on the net the damage looks like bean weevil. RHS advice is to grow plants faster than they are being eaten.

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    2. As if you can make them grow faster in the sort of weather that we have been having.

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  4. Sorry to contradict, Mark but the scalloped edges are caused by pea and bean weevils. Despite their name they never seem to nibble at French or runner beans. Usually the plants can grow away from the damage but this year the plants haven't really grown fast enough and the weevils have caused more damage.
    Flea beetles leave tiny holes in the leaves of plants such as radish, turnips, swede and some of the Chinese greens.

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    1. Yes flea beetles make leaves look like they've been peppered. I guess our allotment site is a haven for both these pests as someone has been growing their host plant there every year for over 100 years! The same goes for carrot root fly. I just hope they don't discover the location of our back garden.

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    2. It's the same with tomato blight isn't it?

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    3. Yes, allowing for the fact that blight is a pathogen rather than a pest. Was it two years ago that the commercial growers turned on allotment holders and amateur gardeners accusing them of harbouring the disease and passing it on to them. I make a point of advocating certified seed as this is the most you can do to reduce susceptibility. The weather is the main determiner of a good or bad year for blight - Cue Martyn.

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