Fava bean pods not developing -- any idea why?

A row of favas I planted earlier this spring has developed the lovely flowers I enjoy, but when those flowers drop off, there's no emergent bean pod ... something I've not seen before. These seeds were planted in a newish bed that was filled primarily with a decent-quality commercial compost mixture ... the original clay soil having been carted away by our landscaper. Other crops did okay in that bad in year one, especially carrots and lettuces. But something there is that the favas don't seem to like.

jk

Reply to
buckyboy
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Do Fava's need to be pollinated? Were there any pollinators around?

Reply to
Travis

The message from "buckyboy" contains these words:

Nothing to do with the soil. It just tells you the bean flowers weren't fertilised. Maybe bees weren't flying, or it was too cold.

Janet

Reply to
Janet Baraclough

McGregors pollination handbook doesn't show all that great a yield reduction on plots that bees were excluded from. My bet is poor pollination from some other cause like rain or temperature.

Reply to
bamboo

In article , snipped-for-privacy@localnet.com writes: |> McGregors pollination handbook doesn't show all that great a yield |> reduction on plots that bees were excluded from. My bet is poor |> pollination from some other cause like rain or temperature.

It depends on the variety whether that is even plausible. They are reliable in typical UK spring weather ....

More likely heat or drought, both of which can cause the varieties grown here (i.e. as broad beans) to fail to set. Cold and wet do cause setting failure here, but that does mean temperatures with highs around 40 and/or rain that doesn't let up for more than an hour or so at a time. They are partially self-fertile, but are mainly pollinated by bumblebees here, which may be why miserable conditions cause poor setting.

I can't speak for the "el ful" varieties.

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

Reply to
Nick Maclaren

Thanks all for your counsel ... we've had a protracted cool and wet spring here in the SF Bay Area, with no more than a day or two of sunshine here and there. I'd forgotten that the birds 'n' bees play a role in all this...something to keep in mind in years to come.

Reply to
buckyboy

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