First job was to put up the canes for the Runner Beans. As usual I put in 7 pairs of 8-foot bamboo canes, pushed into the ground about a foot, leaving 7 feet of height for the beans to grow up:
The beans themselves are not quite big enough for planting out. Maybe a few more days...
This year the leaves of the bean plants ("Scarlet Empire") are very yellow. I don't know why. Something to do with the compost maybe? The plants seem strong enough; it's just that the leaves are a strange colour.
The other variety of Runner Bean that I sowed - "Red Rum" - germinated very badly. So far I only have one viable plant of that type, from 12 sown. The seeds were old, I know, but not excessively so. I have put some more in, so we'll see what happens.
I have also planted out three cucumber plants ("Iznik F1"), but in view of the cold night-time temperatures we are still getting I have put them under cloches:
You might just be able to see that I have tied the plants (there are two in this big pot) loosely to short sticks - ones that fit under the cloche. When the weather warms up and I feel it is safe to remove the cloche I will put in a couple of tall canes for the plants to climb up.
I also decided to tie-in my Sweet Peas. The "rings of string" idea was short-lived, because the plants just flopped around. Since I only have a small number of plants, tying them in won't be a very big job. The first lot of Sweet Peas is looking very sickly (they are just visible around the edges of the pot in the photo below), whereas the second batch seems much stronger.
The ordinary peas are setting pods now, so it won't be long before I'm picking them:
In my garden April is a sowing month; May is a planting month; and June is the first of the harvesting months!
So many people seem to have problems with compost these days, it doesn't seem to contain enough nutrients. I should imagine that that's what the problem is with your runner beans. I don't know if you saw the post about my tomatoes, they looked really ill so I ended up repotting them in some new compost. I'll be doing an update post soon.
ReplyDeleteThose cloches might also protect your cucumbers from pesky slugs until they're established. Bean pole set ups always seem to hold the excitement of things to come! Hope you find out what's causing the yellowness - I find yellowing typically indicates overwatering in most plants - sometimes a problem with ones I've had under cloches or in a propagator for too long
ReplyDeleteHave you tried feeding the yellow beans. I agree with Jo about compost. I'm sure some of our disappointing results can be attributed to poor compost.
ReplyDeleteSue, I have fed the beans with general-purpose liquid feed, and I think it has helped. The bean plants were yellow from the moment they emerged, so it is not as if they have exhausted all the nutrients in the compost over a long period of time!
DeleteTouch wood my compost this year has seemed fine. I have given the plants an odd feed though now & then. My beans are desperate to be planted out. My cucumber will be staying in the greenhouse but as I am struggling for space he gherkins will have to take a chance outside.
ReplyDeleteLooking at your peas, I am kind of tempted to send you some bunga telang (butterfly pea) seeds and see how they cope with your summer ;).
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in growing them, can send me an email at (kebunkmg@gmail.com).
Looking at your peas, I am kind of tempted to send you some bunga telang (butterfly pea) seeds and see how they cope with your summer ;).
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in growing them, can send me an email at (kebunkmg@gmail.com).
how many beans do you plant per pole?
ReplyDeleteFor Runner Beans, normally one per pole; for French Beans, normally two.
Deletethanks, Mark! I love your blog, btw!!
DeleteYour runner bean structure looks the part. The last photo is a great looking pic of peas. You definitely have some photos you could sale or publish, or both.
ReplyDelete