Plant Doctor Archive

Far from magic beans

Question MY problem is non-bearing dwarf beans. This summer I planted them in a tub, in good potting mix, and I regularly (each day) gave them a good watering. About twice a week, I included fertiliser. After the first flowering and crop of beans, there wasn’t another flowering. The plants looked lovely and had healthy, nice green leaves — but no flowers. I had herbs and flowers surrounding the tub, so I don’t think a lack of bees was the problem, because there were no flowers to begin with.

Answer  PERHAPS you were too kind to your beans. If they were growing well, but failing to flower, it could be because the fertiliser you were feeding them with was high in nitrogen. If so this will cause a lot of leafy growth and an imbalance in nutrients, so the plants would not have been getting the potassium they needed for flower and fruit development. Next season, swap to feeding with Yates Thrive Flower & Fruit and use at weekly intervals. You can also try applying Sulphate of Potash at four-weekly intervals. Beans also don’t like to be near onions, fennel, sunflowers or garlic, so if any of these were in your garden, they could also be the cause of poor performance.

Weekend Gardener, Issue 120, 2003, Page 29