On 06/04/2011 20:49, harry wrote:
Broad beans don't generally need support except in very windy places.
The hieght can be from a foot to three feet. Some have multiple
shoots from the bottom,some just the one.
Your worst problem will probably be blackfly on the top leaves of the
plant.
You can spray with nasty insecticide, if available in France, or
remove the top few inches of plant when they appear. This encourages
the lower beans to develope faster too.

I'm not a fan of insecticides. So it looks like removing the top few
inches when beans have set below.

Out of curiosity does spraying blackfly with diluted washing up liquid
kill them? I find it quite effective against greenfly on lupins etc, but
needs to be repeated periodically.

--
David in Normandy.
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In message , Owdboggy
writes

'David in Normandy[_8_ Wrote:
;917103']For the first time I'm growing broad beans. However I always
grow runner
beans and collect some of the dried pods for the following years seeds.

Runner bean variety "Streamline" or at least that is what it said on the

original packet ten years ago! I've always found it a good strong
variety, pest resistant and the pods string-less. Could broad beans
cross pollinate with the runner beans and lead to hybrid bean seeds for

planting next year? I'm also assuming such crosses would not be
desirable?

--
David in Normandy.
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Runner beans are Phaseolus coccineus and Broad beans are Vicia faba so
not even related so the chances of them crossing are rather remote.

"Not even related" is a rather extreme conclusion from the plants being
in different genera. However they are not only in different genera, but
also in different tribes. Intertribal hybrids are even rarer than
intergeneric hybrids.

Broad beans turn out to be more closely related to peas than to runner
beans.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

In message , Mike Lyle
writes
Red kidney bean beans are smaller than runner bean beans, so they must
be a different variety at least. I find it all rather confusing. Even
the garden centre has at least thirty different types / varieties of
"beans" for sale - and from what someone said in another post broad
beans and runner beans aren't even related! The word "bean" seems to be
somewhat generic in usage and confusing for an old has-bean like me. LOL.

I think most (all?) of them are just cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris:
they come in a wide range of forms. Not the broad bean clan, of course:
they're Vicia faba.

Many beans are varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris. The seeds of this are
toxic if not cooked (sufficiently; apparently slow cookers increase the
toxicity). Runner beans are Phaseolus coccineus, of which Wikipedia says
"Runner beans contain traces of the poisonous lectin,
Phytohaemagglutinin, found in common beans and hence must be thoroughly
cooked before consumption." Butter beans are Phaseolus lunatus. Mung
bean is Vigna radiata. Hyacinth beans, another species which requires
prolonged boiling, is Lablab purpureus.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On Wed, 6 Apr 2011 20:27:18 +0100, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:

In message , Mike Lyle
writes
[...]
I think most (all?) of them are just cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris:
they come in a wide range of forms. Not the broad bean clan, of course:
they're Vicia faba.

Many beans are varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris. The seeds of this are
toxic if not cooked (sufficiently; apparently slow cookers increase the
toxicity). Runner beans are Phaseolus coccineus, of which Wikipedia says
"Runner beans contain traces of the poisonous lectin,
Phytohaemagglutinin, found in common beans and hence must be thoroughly
cooked before consumption."
Ah, thanks. I didn't know the name P. coccineus, or, of course, that
they were separate.
Butter beans are Phaseolus lunatus. Mung
bean is Vigna radiata. Hyacinth beans, another species which requires
prolonged boiling, is Lablab purpureus.

Never heard of Hyacinth beans before, which is surprising, given its
apparent importance. Wkp's photo is beautiful.

--
Mike.

On Apr 6, 8:27*pm, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:
In message , Mike Lyle
writes

Red kidney bean beans are smaller than runner bean beans, so they must
be a different variety at least. I find it all rather confusing. Even
the garden centre has at least thirty different types / varieties of
"beans" for sale - and from what someone said in another post broad
beans and runner beans aren't even related! The word "bean" seems to be
somewhat generic in usage and confusing for an old has-bean like me. LOL.

I think most (all?) of them are just cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris:
they come in a wide range of forms. Not the broad bean clan, of course:
they're Vicia faba.

Many beans are varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris. The seeds of this are
toxic if not cooked (sufficiently; apparently slow cookers increase the
toxicity). Runner beans are Phaseolus coccineus, of which Wikipedia says
"Runner beans contain traces of the poisonous lectin,
Phytohaemagglutinin, found in common beans and hence must be thoroughly
cooked before consumption." Butter beans are Phaseolus lunatus. Mung
bean is Vigna radiata. Hyacinth beans, another species which requires
prolonged boiling, is Lablab purpureus.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

"can broad beans be eaten as green beans ie the pods ?"
As has been said the answer is YES.
My mother and I never liked Broad beans but we would alwats sow some
in the Autumn to pich when they were finger size and slice like runner
beans, a bit wooley, but when you have had no green beans (Other than
salted) since late October they tasted good, and were finished by the
time runner beans started.
People say to pick the tops of the plants out to prevent Black fly,
You can cook the tops and eat them, they also taste of beans.

wrote in
:

Baz wrote:
My broad bean "Aquadulce Claudia" already have small pods BTW, and
"The Sutton" are about ready to flower.

Mine are only just popping through the ground. :-(
My overwintered ones all got confused by the weather and flowered and
died by January.

I only know of one chap who grows runner bean "Streamline" and I have
some seed from him, (they are rather old) and with what you have said
about them perhaps it's time I gave them a try. I have grown "Scarlet
Emperor" since I started gardening and have found them a bit stringy
later on so maybe time to try something new(to me). Or both.

I have both streamline and emperor! I tend to grow a fairly random
selection, can never tell which is which by the time they fruit. :-)

I am sure that you have resarched growing broad beans, but it will do
no harm if I advise you to nip out the top of each plant when pods
have set to avoid greenfly, THE pest on broad beans from my
experience.

My broadbean pests have all been black, not green!


Yes, blackfly. Sorry.
Baz