In article ,
anthony123hopki wrote:

'David Hare-Scott[_2_ Wrote:
;894417']anthony123hopki wrote:-
All the advice is to pick the pods asap so as to encourage further pod
development. How is this so given that the pods develop from their
flower, so therefore more flowers would have to develop in order for
more pods.-

This is what happens in fact. In addition the beans are nicer when
young so
pick them regularly and if you can't eat them all while fresh then give
the
rest away, you will get more good beans yourself.
-

Does early cropping encourage further flower growth, or does the plant
flower only once?-

Different cultivars have different flowering patterns. The ones
favoured by
commercial growers flower over a short period and most of the beans are

ready together. This is advantageous as such growers like to harvest
all at
once, often using machinery.

Home growers are better off with a cultivar that flowers continuously
over a
long period so there is a steady harvest of beans. It is a while since
I
grew them but I think blue lake are in the latter category. The
cultivar
that I grew last summer produced continuously for seven months.


David


David

Thanks for that. What cultivar was that one you mentioned that produced
over the seven month period. I would be very interested to know.

Anthony

I've been having good luck with Maxibel, and Fin de Bagnols (French,
green, string beans) producing through the season. The last 2 years they
have produced for me from June to the beginning of November. I use the
bush variety of these, but I believe they come as pole beans as well.
--
- Billy
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