Runner bean flowers

[bussinspain]

My White Lady runner bean flowers keep falling off! I am keeping them moist at the roots and I am feeding them once per week. They had pkenty of organic matter at the roots prior to planting. Why is this happening?

[craftymarie]

Someone will correct me if I am wrong on this, but I thought that flowers just fall off if they haven't been pollinated. Mine did this at first until the bees got busy and now beans are growing.

[Mr Bones]

Could be bumble bees sneaking round the back. They're too big to get at the pollen via the open end so nip the flower off near the base. Crafty, but annoying when you want beans.

[Penellype]

Runner beans are notorious for doing this at first. It may be that they are struggling with cool or wet conditions and not getting pollinated. You will probably find that things improve as more flowers open.

For the future you can buy runner beans that are self pollinating. Varieties include Moonlight, Stardust (I grow these and they are lovely) and Firestorm (just bought some of these to try). The first 2 are white flowered, Firestorm is red. There may be others - these 3 are available from Marshalls.