For those whose Pole Beans didn't flower!

13 years ago

I Posted the following on August the 10th after having similar problems to the thread of July 18 2010 : Blue Lake pole beans not flowering;

I live in Upstate Central New York State z5 and planted my Romano Italian Pole Beans (by transplant as I always do) on Memorial Day Weekend.

I have the most fantastic looking vines any Gardner would envy, and "Jack" would die for. Problem as above "No Flowers", "No Beans". First time ever that's happened and we have had a pretty hot summer with many days in the 90's.

I'm ready to start cutting down as the vines are so long, I would not be surprised in the 12' or more foot length that they are stressing out my pole and string system to the point getting ready to crash to the ground.

As from this post it sounds like the heat may be the cause. It's to bad we love beans and tomatoes in oil. And of course for the second year we've got the blight on tomatoes. But at least we'll have tomatoes till September. END .....................................

When I realized the beans were looking like they werenÂt going to flower or produce I made a decision to give them one more week and then pull the vines out. But before I did I checked out TGW and found others were having similar pole bean problems and blaming it on the heat.

I in turn agreed with those who felt that way as we have had more 90 degree days this summer than weÂve had in the past 10 summerÂs. Everyday my flowers as well as vegetables looked stress so I watered more than usual.

But now IÂm beginning to realize of all the wilting going on with peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, hanging plants, ground plants etc., each day the pole beans were always healthy looking and the most thriving. I said to others the only thing thatÂs growing are the beans. But during the stress what does one do?

Water, and I watered everything almost daily or every other day even the beans. But the only thing I noticed was the vines on the beans were growing bigger and bigger but no flowering.

About two weeks ago I stopped watering them. It didnÂt make sense to continue. A few days later I did the Forum search. The other day I went to start pulling and I looked up and saw a flower and then another. Now a few days later I have flowering and bean growth.

My only common sense tells me (if I could possibly be right is), that all during the heat period the watering helped the vines grow and grow and grow, telling them it wasnÂt time to flower. Is it possible I was just watering them to much. I know it sounds crazy but I canÂt think of anything else as the weather has continued to be warm and hot and sunny over the past two weeks with only one day that was average and bearable.

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Comments (6)

happyday
13 years ago
I sprayed with 10-54-10 and got a tremendous flowering response in two weeks. They are setting beans too.
tworivers1
13 years ago
I just yanked my Blue Lake beans last night without getting a single bean off them. My vines looked great but the four or five blooms I got never produced anything.

I know I did not overwater and grew them in the same place where I grew Kentucky Wonder and Neckargold last year and they did great there.

I think it is safe to say I will never grow Blue Lake again.

Mark
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Well, it's a hard mentality for some of us to comprehend. Essentially it boils down to "One cent benefit for me is worth more to me than one thousand dollars of benefit for you." The little boy yanked the whole plant because he didn't want to be caught and was in a hurry to get out of there with "the loot." He probably never grew any of those beans either. Probably 7 years earlier I had an old "campesino" yank and run with the last of my Barksdale Wax Pole beans, when I was gardening in another town. If it wasn't for other members of the Seed Savers Exchange, that would have been the end of our family heirloom. But the main point I wanted to make, in that thread, which did do a bit of detouring, is that I like a bean with the following characteristics: 1) Dependability. I want a bean which will dependably produce under a wide range of conditions. 2) Tender pods, even when old: Most modern beans become tough when the pods begin to mature. Most dry beans do this. Some dry beans' pods are simply tough from the get go. But there are some varieties out there which produce pods which are tender right down to when they start to yellow and dry. Many of those varieties also have strings. It seems almost to be indication that one has a tender pod variety, if it has strings. Anyway, my favorites have strings and stay tender for a LONG TIME. My absolute favorite green beans are these old timers when they have filled out shell beans on the inside. I string and snap them and cook them up. ItÂs like getting snaps and shell beans at the same time. Plus, with our busy life style, it's sometime difficult to process our beans soon after picking. These tender hull varieties last a lot longer "on the shelf," before processing, than the tough hulled varieties. 3) Prodigious seed production. The best beans I know produce lots of nice, well developed seed. This is nice, not only because we like to eat the seeds, but we also like the ease of maintaining seed stocks, in order to share with others. George
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I live in Upsate Central New York State z5 and planted my Romano Italian Pole Beans (by transplant as I always do) on Memorial Day Weekend. I have the most fantastic looking vines any Gardner would envy, and "Jack" would die for. Problem as above "No Flowers", "No Beans". First time ever that's happened and we have had a pretty hot summer with many days in the 90's. I'm ready to start cutting down as the vines are so long, I would not be surprised in the 12' or more foot length that they are stressing out my pole and string system to the point getting ready to crash to the ground. As from this post it sounds like the heat may be the cause. It's to bad we love beans and tomatoes in oil. And of course for the second year we've got the blight on tomatoes. But at least we'll have tomatoes till September.
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tam91
13 years ago
That was my original thread. Last week I finally got a handfull of Blue Lakes. Wowie. After 3 1/2 months.

Neckargold is still pumping out tons of beans. Strangely, the bush beans haven't even quit.

Ah well, maybe Blue Lakes in September. Wierd year.
guavalane
13 years ago
I only have limited experience, but I'll try to chime in.
Here in Los Angeles it's the norm to have 90 degree or higher days in summer (this year is unusually cool, it didn't get hot until 5 days ago). To get continuous supply of beans I always plant both pole snap and yardlong. When it's hot, I can always count on my yardlongs!
tam91
13 years ago
Now - NOW - I finally have stupid Blue Lake beans. I can't believe it. Actually, some got too big because I had pretty much given up looking for the things. 4 1/2 months to produce beans - bizarre.

The scarlet runner beans are blooming like crazy too - and making some beans.

Guess I'll suspect the hot summer too - and recommend Neckargold, who weren't bothered a bit by the heat.
tracydr
13 years ago
There are few things that can pollinate and produce in high temps. In AZ, even my yard longs quit in the heat and are now making a slight comeback as we had a couple cooler days and more humidity last week. But now we are back to 105 again.
My okra and eggplants slow down in the heat, peppers quit but when cooler temps come I have my most production.
We are extremely hot and dry. I only water about 3 times a week.

For those whose Pole Beans didn't flower!

Comments (6)

happyday

tworivers1

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tam91

guavalane

tam91

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