Berlotti Beans

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

I have maybe 6 Berlotti bean plants which in the general are pretty healthy, grown to a good 7ft+ and have absolutely loads of pods on them.

However the pods don’t seem to be filling out. Most are either flat or have one bean at the bottom end. Is this normal and others will start to fill out as they get to maturity and I just need to be patient? Or could I be doing something else to make sure I get a decent harvest?

[ameno]

This is caused by poor seed setting. Lack of pollination itself is not the issue, as all French beans are self-pollinating.
The usual cause in French beans is either drought or cold nights (French beans need warmer temperatures than runner beans). I never have this problem with French beans where I am in the South West, but when I tried to grow lima beans last year (which need warmer temperatures still), I had real issues with lots of empty pods.
If the ground is dry then obviously you should water, but there's not a lot you can do about the temperature.

If you want a good crop of dried beans I might recommend growing runner beans for them instead. Any variety will do, although the white ones look nicer (the purple and black seeds turn brown on cooking), or Suttons have just started selling a black seeder variety (Black Knight).
Runner beans crop more reliably, give a bigger crop of dry beans per plant, give larger beans, and I think taste nicer (they're nuttier and sweeter).
I'm growing 24 Spagna Bianca (giant-seeded white variety), a 15 of standard coloured giant variety (my own cross between Spagna Bianca and Enorma), and new for this year, 18 Black Doulting, another black-seeded variety, all for dry beans.

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

Minor update - given them a couple of good waters and a feed, and looking at a few of the pods, they do seem to be filling out slightly, so 50% confident they might actually fill out to some decent sized beans.

I hope so anyway, I’ve got cassoulet‘s and a borlotti, chorizo and sea bass dish planned!