On Wed, 04 Jun 2014 18:12:30 +0100, David Hill
wrote:

On 04/06/2014 17:58, wrote:
On Tuesday, June 3, 2014 7:39:57 PM UTC+1, Judith in England wrote:
I have grown Red Rum Runner Beans for years very successfully and have never

had problems with them. (I certainly recommend them)



This year (like every year) - I planted 20 seeds in individual 3inch pots in

new compost - 2 inches deep as per usual and the instructions. All pots had

been well cleaned in Jeyes Fluid after use last year. The pots were in the

greenhouse.



Only 8 of them have germinated and sprouted: and are doing fine.



I have just emptied out the contents of 4 of the other pots - and each bean had

turned to a white mush - almost like glue - but retaining its external shape

and red/black skin. There were also some very small live white "worms" on them

about 3mm long and less than 1mm fat.



Anyone ever experienced this - and any ideas?



(Only yesterday - I planted another twenty beans in situ in the raised bed

where I intended to transplant the others. It will be interesting to see if

there are similar problems - I will report back later in a couple of weeks)



The bean seeds were new this year: Thompson and Morgan.

I don't grow runner beans (yuk!) but I do grow dwarf and climbing french beans (they don't go stringy). I have had this problem in past years and I think it is due to overwatering rotting the seeds. Mine are outside germinating in this weather and I have been concerned about the rain but so far they seem to be coming up.

Jonathan

Today I have sown a fresh batch or runner beans, 4 different varieties
including one from China.
My last lot of around 150 seeds all but 4 failed, (all rotted), and the
French beans I sowed around 85% failed.
I have never had problems before.
Also remembered at last to sow my sweet corn.
All the above have been sown in 7cm square pots, fresh compost.
I think it's a bad year for beans as I haven't seen anyone selling
runner bean plants, and I have had a lot of people asking for them.
David@ a waterlogged side of Swansea Bay. Around 12 hours of rain today
so far.

I had some climbing bean plants (a heritage variety) coming up in a
big tub.I had an excellent crop last year.
I've had to sow again as the b*** slugs and snails ate all but the
stems.