I seem to be losing an extraordinary amount of flowers from my plants this
year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these just seem to be
dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any advice!

Cheers ~Brian~

On 10/07/2010 12:49, ~Brian~ wrote:
I seem to be losing an extraordinary amount of flowers from my plants this
year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these just seem to be
dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any advice!

Cheers ~Brian~


I've been told it's down to lack of water.
Jill

On Jul 10, 1:22*pm, Jill Bell wrote:
On 10/07/2010 12:49, ~Brian~ wrote: I seem to be losing an extraordinary amount of flowers from my plants this
year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these just seem to be
dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any advice!

Cheers ~Brian~

I've been told it's down to lack of water.

Suggest it may be a lack of bees to pollinate them - that's what I've
put it down to on mine - same thing with the broad beans, very poor
crop.

On 10/07/2010 17:22, moghouse wrote:
On Jul 10, 1:22 pm, Jill wrote:
On 10/07/2010 12:49, ~Brian~ wrote: I seem to be losing an extraordinary amount of flowers from my plants this
year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these just seem to be
dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any advice!

Cheers ~Brian~

I've been told it's down to lack of water.

Suggest it may be a lack of bees to pollinate them - that's what I've
put it down to on mine - same thing with the broad beans, very poor
crop.
Maybe I shouldn't have planted the Cerinthe next to the beans - they're
covered in bees. Could it be that it's too much of a distraction? :-)

In article ,
Jill Bell wrote:
On 10/07/2010 17:22, moghouse wrote:
On Jul 10, 1:22 pm, Jill wrote:
On 10/07/2010 12:49, ~Brian~ wrote: I seem to be losing an extraordinary amount of flowers from my plants this
year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these just seem to be
dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any advice!

I've been told it's down to lack of water.

Suggest it may be a lack of bees to pollinate them - that's what I've
put it down to on mine - same thing with the broad beans, very poor
crop.
Maybe I shouldn't have planted the Cerinthe next to the beans - they're
covered in bees. Could it be that it's too much of a distraction? :-)

No. Unless you are in the far north, it's water. They don't set
in dry conditions, though you can alleviate that by watering them
daily. My experience of that is that it helps only a bit.

I have had one (1) from a dozen plants, and none of my other beans
have set except for 2-3 borlotti.

Depending on when they were planted, the bee answer might be correct
for the broad beans, but even they don't set well in dry conditions.
That's the reason that I have a poor crop of them - I had enough
bees (though not an excess).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"moghouse" wrote in message
...
On Jul 10, 1:22 pm, Jill Bell wrote:
On 10/07/2010 12:49, ~Brian~ wrote: I seem to be losing an extraordinary
amount of flowers from my plants this
year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these just seem
to be
dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any advice!

Cheers ~Brian~

I've been told it's down to lack of water.

Suggest it may be a lack of bees to pollinate them - that's what I've
put it down to on mine - same thing with the broad beans, very poor
crop.

When I was very small, I was told to polinatebeans by spraying them with
water, and it seems to work well, I always do it, and usually have a very
good crop.

Alan

~Brian~ wrote:

I seem to be losing an extraordinary amount of flowers from my plants this
year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these just seem to be
dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any advice!

Cheers ~Brian~

I've always understood that spraying runner beans with water helps the
flowers to set and to produce beans.

Peter
--
He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I
could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far
from being gruntled.
P.G. Wodehouse 1881 -1975

In article m,
Peter James wrote:
~Brian~ wrote:

I seem to be losing an extraordinary amount of flowers from my plants this
year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these just seem to be
dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any advice!

I've always understood that spraying runner beans with water helps the
flowers to set and to produce beans.

The RHS did an experiment, and it doesn't help much - not even as
much as daily watering.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

~Brian~ wrote:
I seem to be losing an extraordinary amount of flowers from my plants
this year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these
just seem to be dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any
advice!
Cheers ~Brian~

Thanks for all your answers and advice, I will try everything suggested!
except the bees of course, only MN can do that. ;-)

On Jul 12, 9:24*am, "~Brian~" wrote:
~Brian~ wrote:
I seem to be losing an extraordinary amount of flowers from my plants
this year. I would expect some to drop with high winds, but these
just seem to be dropping off for no apparent reason (that I can see).
Has anyone any idea what could be causing this?? appreciate any
advice!
Cheers ~Brian~

Thanks for all your answers and advice, I will try everything suggested!
except the bees of course, only MN can do that. ;-)

I have been using a sprinkler system in my veg patch for years and we
always have a good crop of French and broad beans (don't like
runners). It is interesting to hear that this may have helped
germination. Mind you there is no apparent shortage of bees around us
in south Warwickshire.

Jonathan