Peas and beans

[HeyWayne]

It's probably common knowledge, but I didn't realise this - I read somewhere that when the plants die, you should chop them off at the bases, rather than doing as I did, and pulling them up. Nitrogen giving roots see.

Every day's a school day!

[Flummery]

Yes HeyWayne, they form nodules on the root which fix the nitrogen. I chopped old my beans almost at ground level and the rooty bits can be a bit of a nuisance until they rot down. However, I'm reluctant to waste a bit of free plant food!

[borage]

I've chopped my beans to ground level this year, how long do they take to rot down?

[Snadger]

I take mine completely out and add the nitro to the compost heap!

I know you're supposed to leave them in for the following crop of brassicas but unless you plant the brasicas in amongst the bean stumps , it doesn't work! If another crop wasn't going in straight away I suppose it makes sense, but there again, nitrogen is a very short lived element and would be washed out by the winter rains giving you no food value by spring. For organic matter to rot down it requires nitro so the stumps in rotting down would also use the nitro!

[Flummery]

They rot fairly fast if you chop them with your spade. If they get in my way I lob them on the compost. If they're not too much of a nuisance I leave them there.