Runner Bean "Pole star" problem?

Sounds like the flowers aren't getting pollinated, they need Bees, you seen any about Jack?

 

Well that is strange then Jack, given that one plant is OK - must be something in the soil maybe, lets wait and see what our shiney thinks.

 

You called!

It sounds a bit of a puzzle if they're forming beans and then dropping off.

My first thought when people say they're not getting the beans is lack of pollination but, as the beans are actually forming, that can't be the problem.

Large temperature changes between night and day can have an effect but it's not normal at this time of the year.

Misting the flowers is no longer a recommended way to treat beans. Research has found it doesn't do anything but it, also, doesn't do any harm.

My main thought is, usually, the lack of suffcient water. Beans are very greedy for water but they don't particularly like a light, frequent watering. A very heavy watering twice a week (three times if very hot) is what they prefer. A small amount of water every day doesn't work very well.

The heavy watering encourages the roots to go down (to follow the water) and establishes deeper roots which not only take up the water but help them to grow more roots and they feed better from them. Light watering keeps the roots near the surface which is particularly bad for them in very hot weather or dry weather.

Of course, using a hose to give a very heavy watering is difficult as, generally, the water will run off. That's why I use a sprinkler which gives continuous lighter amounts of water and allows it to soak into the ground. I grow a lot of bean plants and grow courgettes, marrows, squash etc alongside (as they are also water lovers) so that they all get watered together. An efficient use of a sprinkler.

Although runner beans come from Central America which is quite hot they only survive OK in the mountains where it's cooler. That's why runners aren't grown much in hot countries. I worked with a school in Brazil where we tried to grow them (because they're such a fast grower) and were only successful where we put them in the shade where a cooler breeze was channelled. Other positions weren't successful at all!

 

Try giving them a couple of gallons each, twice a week, but pour it on slowly so it soaks downwards instead of running off. Put on about half a gallon (slowly) then give it time to soak in. Go and have a cuppa then put more on etc. Next year try planting them in a trench that is a couple of inches lower than the surface. That way the water won't run off so easily. As long as the ground has been well composted it won't get waterlogged.

The old fashioned way of preparing been trenches was to dig out the trench to about 18", or more, lay old newspapers in the bottom at least a couple of inches deep - or, even better, get loads of hair from the barbers and put that in the bottom of the trench about 6" deep (it'll squash right down when filling the trench. The paper or hair will help retain moisture deep down.

Then put a few inches of soil back in and then the rest of the soil mixed with garden compost. If you're short of compost then collect leaves in the autumn, put them in bin bags, and by the time you need to prepare the trench in the late spring they would have started to rot. The leaves don't need to be fully rotted because you're using them for texture.

Once you've prepared it the first year there is very little work to do it again each year as the soil will be easy to work as the trench doesn't get trodden on.

Nowadays, after a number of years, I just put a thick layer of compost on top of the trench in the winter and fork it in. I've been growing the beans on the same spot for 40 years!

The temperature difference will only slow them down a bit.

 

Yes, it's true that some bees get the nectar by boring a hole in the back of the flower. This will usually result in that flower not producing beans at all. The problem of baby beans dropping off is a different matter.