In article , Baz wrote:

Broad beans are the only vegetable that I grow that don't get pests
and diseases. Other than blackfly of course if they are sown in
spring. I sow most of mine in autumn. I get the odd one or two with
blackfly so I nip the tops off instead of eating them. The rest are
fine.

Oh, yes, they do. I lost most of my crop one year to rust; there
are viruses that can affect them; and they fairly often get various
root and stem rots. Yes, those rarely do more than kill a few
plants and reduce the crop, but occasionally they can destroy one.

Nick, I hope that I never have that rubbish you had. Touch wood.

I didn't say that I personally have lost crops to all of those!
In 35 years, I have had a 70% crop failure once (due to rust),
and have not (touch wood) had more than a 10% crop failure for
any other reason, since I starting pre-germinating the seeds.

My soil does have something that attacks germinating pea and bean
seeds very badly, though broad beans are the most resistant. But,
if I don't start off French and runner in pots, I rarely get MORE
than 5% survival. In paper pots (using garden soil) inside, I
get 95% survival except for modern filet green beans, which I have
given up on.

I don't bother with pots for broad beans and peas, because I need
too many of them.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.