Your comments and tips

10 Aug 09, Rosemary Anderson (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Tall healthy BB plants with many flowers but none setting. Does anyone know the reason or remedy?

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08 Aug 09, Teash (Australia - temperate climate)

After my harvest of broad beans last year, we took them all out of the garden and placed them on a composting pile, you guessed it in about 2 months I have BB everywhere, so I have just let them go, I have had BB over the winter, not a lot but enough for 1 decent feed per week. My advice to all you BB lovers, if you get lots of ants, give them a good spray with some soapy water, you may need to do this weekly if you have the time. If you see lots of bees around your flowers you will have lots of BB. Last year I just placed a rope around the bottom of mine and one around midway up to try and keep them together. One can never have enough broadbeans, blanch them quickly and freeze them if you have to many, mine generally dont last that long. Hope I have helped you in some way.

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08 Aug 09, Ian Purdie (Australia - temperate climate)

My Italian neighbour came up from Sydney four days ago and inspected my BB's. "What's the problem? I see no problem. Don't worry about ants. Already you have good pods" Where? Yep there were some small pods which in four days since have grown four fold and now stand right out. He went on to say that it was the cooler weather [for here] which had held them back. "When they get to 1.5 metres you will have more than you know what to do with". Thanks all.

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06 Aug 09, Marion English (Australia - temperate climate)

Emma I have finally got pods coming out looks like being a good crop my plants would only be about 2ft tall but very bushy and yes the tops are delicious also planted fairly close together

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06 Aug 09, Teena (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi. I have a beautiful tall (1.5M) BB plant and many other small ones which were planted much later. ALL of the plants have ants around the new growth. There doesn't seem to be any other insect around at all. Do I need to do anything? And, flowers are dropping off the big one but I can see any beans forming. Is this normal? PS. I am a very new gardener. Teena

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28 Jul 09, New farmer (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I have 2 locations in my backyard to grow the broad beans, but the result is totally different, one area the beans grow very well, but the other place, there are no leaf left, all gone, I don't know why?

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27 Jul 09, Ian C. Purdie (Australia - temperate climate)

I've had my broad beans in for quite awhile now. Central Coast NSW and flowering vigorously but lower, earlier ones dropping off. No budding pods. Today I noticed ants quite active but I can see no evidence of aphids? Grew BB previously in Sydney no trouble.

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25 Jul 09, Marilyn (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Beans in flower and plants are 5ft tall. Flowers are just starting - when can we expect the setting to commence?

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25 Jul 09, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Previous years I've harvested broad beans around October, so it's still very early. This year I was late getting them in, so they're still small, not yet flowering. Watch out for any ants - usually means they're farming aphids feeding on the tops of your broadbeans. Last year I put vaseline around each of the the broad bean stalks which stopped the ants, and the broad beans didn't seem to mind.

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24 Jul 09, rex (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

do you prop bean plants up between two wires or rope please

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