this year has been a bean disaster year for me aswell.i usualy get around 65 to 70 pounds of beans off my 23 vines, but with the very hot days the flowers have not set ,the plant drops its flowers when stressed, just like trees in very hot times when water is short. other hot years i have mist sprayed every evening on hot days to set the flowers,& stop them from dropping, but was away for 2 weeks, i had a timer to water a soaking hose in the trench every morning from my water buts, thats why we enjoy the challenging hobby of gardening, every year is different, the older you get the more you realise what you learnt in passed years does not always work in the pressent one.
I have found the same problems with my runners, I have read all of the advice and will stop my plants on my next visit to the allotment. I have had a few beans, but by this time in the year I should be inundated with them. Thanks for all the advice, keep up the good work everyone!
It is my worst year too for setting. Only in the last week have I been picking beans. I pinch mine out to make them branch and initially keep the height down but am not aware this has any effect on flowers setting which is the problem. Plenty of bees around and I have not seen any using the "back door", which is often mentioned. I have not seen any beetles but will check again more closely. The variety can effect this problem too, as a neighbours beans have been producing for several weeks.
i think there are not enough ladybirds to feed on blackflies and greenflies this year . i have so many of my plants affected but i dont want to use insecticides.
This year my beans don't seemed to have alot of flower what beans have formed are very long and straight though I think its to do with the very hot and dry weather we have had.
I think that the beetles you are seeing are called pollen beetles. They do little harm to the flowers unless you want them for show. They certainly wouldn't denude a flower of so much pollen that it could not fertilise another flower.
My money is still on bumblebees robbing the plant of its store of nectar. I think that bees in some areas have learned the trick from one another as blue tits learned to steal cream from milk bottles in the old days. That would account for why some areas have a good crop of beans and others don't.
You lucky lot with beans - you wait, you just wait....
I know it may be too late for your crop this year, but I always pinch out beans when they get to top of the 6' canes, and I grow sweet peas along side the beans to attract the insects that pollinate, and keep on picking every day as that will stimulate plant to produce more.
I dig a trench & fill up with kitchen scraps for a few months before putting out plants, and never use same site in the garden in subsequent years. I know that some think this is a waste of time, but my dad always did this and always had a good crop.
Another poor gardener with bees stealing the nectar from the flowers by cutting a hole in the back of the flower. See 10th August thread called Bees Not Doing Their Stuff.
Bee species come with varying length tongues. The short-tongued species are known to get a little frustrated with some flower types and take 'short cuts'. If you watch bees on aquilegias you will see some species go for the bottom of the spur with their mandibles to get at the nectar.
If you want to get rid of pollen beetles on sweet pea flowers, cut the flowers and put in a bucket of cold water. Put in a dark garage or shed with the door or a window open. The pollen beetles will leave the sweet peas and go towards the light. Result sweet peas with no pollen beetles to bring into the house.
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this year has been a bean disaster year for me aswell.i usualy get around 65 to 70 pounds of beans off my 23 vines, but with the very hot days the flowers have not set ,the plant drops its flowers when stressed, just like trees in very hot times when water is short. other hot years i have mist sprayed every evening on hot days to set the flowers,& stop them from dropping, but was away for 2 weeks, i had a timer to water a soaking hose in the trench every morning from my water buts, thats why we enjoy the challenging hobby of gardening, every year is different, the older you get the more you realise what you learnt in passed years does not always work in the pressent one.
I have found the same problems with my runners, I have read all of the advice and will stop my plants on my next visit to the allotment. I have had a few beans, but by this time in the year I should be inundated with them. Thanks for all the advice, keep up the good work everyone!
It is my worst year too for setting. Only in the last week have I been picking beans. I pinch mine out to make them branch and initially keep the height down but am not aware this has any effect on flowers setting which is the problem. Plenty of bees around and I have not seen any using the "back door", which is often mentioned. I have not seen any beetles but will check again more closely. The variety can effect this problem too, as a neighbours beans have been producing for several weeks.
I've never seen so many blackfly as are clustered all over most of my beans, they are still producing though, just a bit yucky to pick!
Definitely less than usual though.
i think there are not enough ladybirds to feed on blackflies and greenflies this year . i have so many of my plants affected but i dont want to use insecticides.
This year my beans don't seemed to have alot of flower what beans have formed are very long and straight though I think its to do with the very hot and dry weather we have had.
I think that the beetles you are seeing are called pollen beetles. They do little harm to the flowers unless you want them for show. They certainly wouldn't denude a flower of so much pollen that it could not fertilise another flower.
My money is still on bumblebees robbing the plant of its store of nectar. I think that bees in some areas have learned the trick from one another as blue tits learned to steal cream from milk bottles in the old days. That would account for why some areas have a good crop of beans and others don't.
You lucky lot with beans - you wait, you just wait....
I know it may be too late for your crop this year, but I always pinch out beans when they get to top of the 6' canes, and I grow sweet peas along side the beans to attract the insects that pollinate, and keep on picking every day as that will stimulate plant to produce more.
I dig a trench & fill up with kitchen scraps for a few months before putting out plants, and never use same site in the garden in subsequent years. I know that some think this is a waste of time, but my dad always did this and always had a good crop.
Bee species come with varying length tongues. The short-tongued species are known to get a little frustrated with some flower types and take 'short cuts'. If you watch bees on aquilegias you will see some species go for the bottom of the spur with their mandibles to get at the nectar.
If you want to get rid of pollen beetles on sweet pea flowers, cut the flowers and put in a bucket of cold water. Put in a dark garage or shed with the door or a window open. The pollen beetles will leave the sweet peas and go towards the light. Result sweet peas with no pollen beetles to bring into the house.