broad bean yields

[jacob]

What sort of yields do you all get from your broad beans?

I've grown them for the last three years in a variety of ways and at best I've had 5 or 6 pods with 4 beans each. With some worse and others not germinating I've maybe averaged 1:12 which seems OK, but I wonder if I should be trying to do better?

[Two_Sheds]

I find the very first pods don't have many beans in them. I expect it is down to low numbers of insect pollinators in the early part of the spring.

Some varieties have more beans than others too ... Super Aquedulce is my favourite again this year, for hardiness, earliness, taste and yield.

[Rocketron]

I sowed mine in the autumn for the first time. I am astonished at how much better they are. Twice the size of spring sown(last year) and 3 times as many pods. So far, I have had at least a dozen pods on each plant(aquadulce) and they are now flowering again.

[indigox]

I've only got one pod, so I reckon I'm beating you!

[solway cropper]

I'm growing the dwarf variety 'Sutton' in tubs this year and each plant has loads of small pods. I started them off in the greenhouse and to be honest they're doing better than ones grown in the main plot. Definitely an experiment i'll repeat next year.

[valmarg]

Ours were sown earlier this year. Imperial Green Longpod, variety. They are in full flower. Shall have a very good crop of very small, juicy green beans, with no need to 'skin' them.

valmarg

[jacob]

Thanks all. This I've got autumn sown aquadulce setting at the moment (with some spring sown sutton filling in gaps, but lagging behind), maybe half a dozen pods per plant. Might get a few more, but in the past not all of my set pods have fully matured. Sounds like I need to try harder, though perhaps the Scottish weather is holding things back.

I've also got a later sowing of longpods coming up now -- this second crop work quite well last year.

[squashman]

perhaps the Scottish weather is holding things back.

Nah, my October sown Aquadulce Claudia is looking good in North east Fife. I'm no expert by any means but it strikes me that these devils want water...lots of it, and then when you think they've had enough...water some more

[Two_Sheds]

I'm no expert by any means but it strikes me that these devils want water...lots of it, and then when you think they've had enough...water some more

Well... I have some on a patch of dry ground (sandy coastal soil) that I haven't watered at all. Not never. We then had 6 weeks of drought. I still didn't water them.

The plants are barely a foot high, and only have one or two pods each plant. but, those pods are packed full of beans.

I conclude that more watering will give you more beans, but no watering will still give you some beans (and most of the country gets more rainfall than we do here).

[sarraceniac]

I tried broad beans for the first time this year. Planted in a cold g.house in January in loo rolls. Wonderful. 100% germination. Planted out in March. Wonderful. Full of flowers. Dug them up last week after a rainy two days. Terrible. The slugs must really love them. Every single bit of every plant.

[jacob]

I've been watering mine fairly regularly, but I'm not sure how much help this has been. Pods slowly getting bigger, and the crop will hopefully be OK, but I was hoping for a dozen pods per plant, like Rocketron!

[HayleyB]

My October sown Aquadulce Claudia are prolifically cropping with many pods per plant most are 5-ers or 6-ers but some have only one or two beans. Spent a couple of hours podding the first batch last week for freezing, podded another load for freezing yesterday and will be eating minted beans with my Feltham Peas tonight with a nice steak - yum

[squashman]

Well... I have some on a patch of dry ground (sandy coastal soil) that I haven't watered at all. Not never. We then had 6 weeks of drought. I still didn't water them.

The plants are barely a foot high, and only have one or two pods each plant. but, those pods are packed full of beans.

I conclude that more watering will give you more beans, but no watering will still give you some beans (and most of the country gets more rainfall than we do here).

That's interesting, I have to admit I don't have the nerve to starve the plants of water, intentionally or otherwise, I wonder if the type of soil makes a difference, my soil is medium heavy, very little sand.

[gojiberry]

I find that bean yields depends on the dreaded blackfly. As soon as the blackfly appear I take out the tops which then limits you to the flowers that are on the plant at the time of nipping out. This year there is no sign of the fly and the plants are growing taller and producing more flowers and even if the fly appears tomorrow I am gong to have a bumper crop.

Ian