Peas and broad beans infertile

[David Hare-Scott]

It's winter here, most of the winter crop is doing very well and the peas and broad beans are growing well too. There are two sorts of peas, shelling peas and snow peas. All the peas and broad beans are flowering profusely but none is setting fruit. There are plenty of bees active through the day. Both are planted fairly densely so that wind pollination should be quite efficient.

I have been told that if you get frost on your pea flowers they will not form pods. We get frost fairly regularly at night so this may be the explanation there, although I would have expected a few of the flowers to open in a frost-free interval or to be sheltered and to survive. There is no frost damage visible to either plants.

I thought that broad beans were just about bullet proof but they are not setting pods either.

Can anybody help?

David

[shazzbat]

Where are you and how severe is your winter? In UK we tend not to sow peas until spring, the frosts are pretty much done before flowering. Broad beans too, although we also sow an overwintering variety (aquadulce Claudia) for an early harvest.

I think you have started too soon. Sow another batch. A small batch, then you can sow another batch later in case the first lot gets frosted or fails for other reasons.

HTH

Steve

[David Hare-Scott]

East coast Australia, winter nights are 10 to -4 C, days 10 to 20 C taken up off the ground, on a clear night it would be 3 or 4 degres colder down on the soil. We get frost mainly from June to August (not every night) but no snow or frozen ground. Sowing time for cool season veges is a balancing act it can be quite hot in autumn or spring.

David