On Apr 6, 12:46*pm, David in Normandy
wrote:
On 06/04/2011 12:38, Baz wrote:





David in *wrote in
.fr:

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, I can only speak from my experience over the last 4? years.
I save seed from all beans and I have not noticed any X pollination at all.
Time will tell?
My broad bean "Aquadulce Claudia" already have small pods BTW, and "The
Sutton" are about ready to flower.
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 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.

I hope you find all this useful.
Baz

Thank you for the advice. I'm a total newbie to broad beans. I've just
planted some beans directly into the ground but have no idea how high
they will grow. According to the internet broad beans grow three to four
feet high so I've planted the beans between some pea sticks of that
height I've cut from my hazel trees. I don't know if they will be strong
enough. I always grow my runner beans up 8 foot bamboo canes all
fastened together in a long strong wigwam.

I've a few broad beans around 8 inches high in individual plant pots
that I germinated indoors and they've been outside the last few days
hardening off - I plan to try growing them around a bamboo wigwam. I am
assuming that broad beans twist themselves around supports the same as
runner beans?

Another very silly question - can broad beans be eaten as green beans ie
the pods and later on just the beans shelled from the pods themselves?
If eaten as beans (seeds) can they be allowed to fully ripen and be kept
dry overwinter for use in stews etc? The name of the variety is
something like Swiss white (Suisse blanc). The beans themselves are
white and approximately the size of the beans you get in baked bean
tins, not the huge beans I've seem other people with.

--
David in Normandy. *
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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.