Rodger, I've got to make it down there one of these years! Both to swap seed, and to see in person some of the people I've met on GW. It should make for pleasant conversation - as in the _spoken_ word! My source for the Hopi Pole said to continuously select for the darker seeds, or it would eventually revert to the orange. I'm assuming orange with red speckles is the dominant form. The flavor is quite good, but rather hard to describe. They cook up tender, and keep much of their dark coloration. The flavor is not especially sweet, but very rich, with an elusive flavor I can't quite pin down (kind of like they were cooked in green-bean water). Smooth-textured, and very pleasant. Rodger, you have so much more "latitude" (pun intended) in your lima selection. While I have had real success with only Sieva & some bush baby limas direct-seeded, all is not lost... started in pots, many smaller limas will mature for me, at least enough to save seed. I actually threw a 30-foot tarp over "Hopi" twice as frost threatened... with good results.

Silvia you are a traveller! My sister and I were travellers in our early 20s. Before my oldest son was a year old he'd been to Ireland, Italy, Thailand, Austrailia, New Zealand, and Fiji. I just tied him to my back and went on a trip around the world. Nothing breaks the ice like a baby. On a plane to Phuket this little boy came over to us and bowed, then took Josh who was 6 months out of my arms, then carried him over to his family which must have taken up 10 rows on the airplane. They passed him up and down and cooed over him and cuddled him and then after a while brought him back to me. I didn't really get it until we landed and even the soldiers at the airport tried to hold him. They are the baby lovingest people I have ever met! Finally Josh had enough though, and I was afraid he'd catch a cold from someone, so i started nixing the holding by strangers thing. :) but it was definately a crazy trip. In Fiji i was standing out in the water watching the soldier fish and holding Josh on my hip and a snake swam right over my feet. I walked back to shore and asked the local dive master what it was. He said he didn't know in English, but in Fiji they called it a 2 step, as in that's how many you take before you keel over and die if it bites you. That place was crazy! I thought that cannibalism was eradicated earlier in the century, but at night you could hear the drums and it was downright creepy. :) Ah....those days were incredible. I can't wait to hear some of your stories!

The first question on pollination. Beans/limas are self fertile and require no external pollination. Common beans do not pollinate well in extreme heat or high night time temps or stress. Limas and southern peas on the other hand pollinate very well in the high heat and high night temps but can still abort blossoms if stressed due to drought lack of nutrients or over crowding. The pole limas need a lot of room and do not compete well when crowded. Common pole beans will have the same issues were as southern peas and bush type bean/limas are not as affected by this. John Coykendal of Knoxville Tenn who is the farm manager for Blackberry farms and probably the best resource for limas( he is known as the Butter Bean man and has a collection of over a 100 varieties of limas). He suggest never planting pole limas closer than 3ft apart and no more than 2 plants in a hole. If you look at your vines you will see the lima starts out with one main leader then in between each leaf node another vine comes out, very quickely there is a mass of vines. if plants are too close ie more than 2 plant every 3ft apart there is way too much vine and competetion and the plants become stressed and abort blooms. If I had a 5ft long trelless I would plant two hills with 2 plant each evenly spaced on the trelliss and no more. I plant 2rows 2ft apart with hills of 2 beans per hill every 3ft alternating from one row to the next ie one hill on left row go down three feet plant one hill on right row etc. This gives me about 125ft of beans and I produce 2crops here in SC when planted first of May. First crop is late July secound crop is in September and some years maybe a third crop late Oct early Nov. I will get 2-4 bushels on first crop and6-8 bushels on secound crop. a bushel of limas will produce about one gallon of seed when well filled out. So to break this down 40 hills average 10 bushels or about 4 hills per bushel. There is 4 pecks per bushel and 4qts fresh shelled beans per bushel so about 2 hills will give 2 pecks of pods or a 2qt of seed. A meal for a family of 4 is a qt of beans. So probably two meals in a season. The pods will take about 3-4weeks to ripen so need to keep an I on them. The best way is like you have done let the sun shine thru and determine seed size then gage fullness by feeling the pod. It takes practice and I have picked limas my whole life and I still gage each plant while picking by opening a pod to verify fullness as I am picking. A good rule of thumb is when the first pods start to turn yellow the majority are ready to pick. Lastly be patient the pods will fill out it takes time but be vigilant they will ripen when they are ready and not when you are so when see the first yellow pod it is time to pick. On fertilzer too much nitrogen gives too much vine and no pods. On water use it if you have it.Rodger

There are only 2 possibilities that I can think of based on your description.1. Improper N-P-K ratio. Both Limas and peas require phosphate (P). Low Phosphate and high nitrates in the soil will result in great vines but little seed production 2. Soil pH. both of these like a neutral pH and do not respond well in an acidic soil.