broad bean how many..

[ioan]

Hi everyone
how many flower sets do l leave on my broad beans before pinching out ?
kind regards
ioan

[Bren In Pots]

Ioan I leave all mine to set, never thought of doing it any different, don't forget you can eat those tips you pinch off they're ever so nice in an omelet.

[veggiechicken]

I leave mine too. Its not in my nature to pinch anything

[cariann88]

I left mine to it. Never bothered with pinching it.

[rustylady]

Only pinch mine when the blackfly arrive

[roitelet]

I pinch mine after the last flower or as soon as I see any blackfly.

[ioan]

Decided not to pinch.
is it inevitable I'm gonna have an infestation of blackfly at some piont?
not looking forward to that.
kind regards
ioan

[Alison]

Never pinched mine out

[kathyd]

I leave until the blackfly arrive, which they always do . Preceded by ants of course, so I know when to start watching out for them. This year they seemed to arrive quite early in the polytunnel, but usually the plants get to a decent size first.

[jacob]

I might sometimes pinch out once they've finished flowering. But only sometimes. As above, to ward off the blackly.

[cristalfiona]

I leave until the blackfly arrive, which they always do . Preceded by ants of course, so I know when to start watching out for them.

I didn't realise ants were a harbinger of blackfly. I saw some on my plants the other day. They're only about 1 1/2 ft tall, I don't want to have to pinch them out yet!!

[Martin H]

The ants carry the aphids on to the plant then guard them so that they can harvest their sweet sticky secretions.

[kathyd]

I know Cristalfiona, I have the same problem! But it seems to be quite a while before the blackfly appear after I first see the ants, by which time the plants will be a bit bigger. I leave it until the last possible minute and then pinch them out. I did try leaving them alone one year but the entire plant ends up getting so infested, including the beans themselves, that it was disgusting and icky, so now I pinch out. I figure that any crop is better than no crop at all... I also found that the plants send up other shoots after the main shoots, and I need to watch for those too - if I forget to pinch those out later on the ants and blackfly are back again really quickly.

[skeggijon]

No blackfly yet this year, so fingers crossed

[Scarlet]

I pinched mine out a few days ago. I was squishing black fly until the numbers increased so much that nipping the tops out was the only option.