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Runner Bean Flowers "Nipped" Off
Peter Robinson writes
cineman wrote: I am growing runner beans for the first time for quite a few years, have plenty of flowers, but up to now only one tiny bean has "set". The atrocious weather this week has slowed growth anyway. Some of the flowers appear to have been neatly nipped off, or else dropped off for some reason, and I remember having this frustrating problem on previous crops, i.e. - losing the first few pods at least. As cineman said, the simplest explanation is that they dropped off of their own accord - too cold, not pollinated etc. In which case don't worry - they'll soon start setting and no doubt you'll have more runner beans than you know what to do with before you know it! The leaves have also been eaten away to some extent, but I was only able to find a tiny black caterpillar on one, and I do use slug pellets when the weather is damp. Most likely that will be slugs or snails. I don't find they're a major problem on runner beans once they get established. The beans should grow away and the slugs seem to concentrate on the lower leaves and other plants within easier reach. If the eaten leaves are higher up, have a close look on the supports they're growing on - sometimes snails with a head for heights stay up there in the daytime and eat the newer softer leaves at night. But picking them off and chucking them away seems to deal with the problem. My experience with beans is that slugs and snails go for the stems in preference to the leaves, felling the entire plant just above the ground. -- Kay |
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