Broad beans not setting - Aquadulce Claudia

I have about 40 extremely healthy, robust looking board bean plants with plenty of flowers. Last weekend I even nipped the growing tips off some of them (they're all between 2.5 and 3 feet tall and are supported by canes at the end of each row and a cross-hatch of string).

However, even though I've seen plenty of insects and bees on the flowers I'm not seeing any signs of tiny pods developing - in fact, most of the old flowers are simply dropping off, they even drop off if you so much as gently touch them with a finger. Nothing is left behind.

I've never grown broad beans before so what am I doing wrong?

We've had plenty of rain lately and sometimes it's fairly windy but nothing terrible in general. A nice bit of sun at times as well, temperatures haven't been above about 16C/61F though. They are in a position which gets a good amount of sun but is sheltered from the worst of the wind.

The beans were initially sowed indoors a few months ago, then hardened off and planted outside about 2 months ago where they continued to grow very well.

Would feeding with Tomorite help? And if so, how often?

Thanks

 

Hello there, You're not doing anything wrong, far from it! Our broad beans took a while to set this year, I thought because the overall temperatures were lower than usual, until recently. Opinion on various horticultural sites suggests that too high temperatures also prevent good pollination, so you can't win After a couple of weeks, though, bingo! beans everywhere As long as there are insects busy on the flowers pollination will take place, you just need patience. As the plants are flowering well, there's no point in wasting Tomorite on them.

 

Thanks for the advice.

However, don't the dropping flowers point to there being a problem? I don't just mean the spent flower but also any pod that could be forming inside?

 

When I used to grow broad beans I always found the first flowers were not good at setting.
The plants are still in vegetative growth and they seem to settle down later.

I often think that is the same problem with runner beans, when a lot of people blame sparrows, dry soil, and all sorts of things, even bees.

 

Interesting, thanks. Well, we can but wait and see.