Bad Beans, Good Melon

I gave up on the beans a while ago. Stopped watering them and stopped adding nutrients some time ago. The spider mites didn't help either. Without beans on the plants I didn't feel the need to keep them going. Although now that the foliage has died back a bit, I can see a few beans: a couple that are picking size and a dozen or so that aren't.

So what was keeping these Scarlet Runner beans from producing? I had lots of flowers all season long. Good fertilizer application. Other than spider mites which didn't show up until the end of the season, the plants suffered from nothing. I even had quite a few bee and bee-like insects constantly visiting the flowers, not that I think that mattered to these plants. It was a hot summer but so what: every summer is hot. I've had no problems with pole beans in the same container in the same spot using the same methods in previous years.

Why did these plants wait until the end of the season to start setting fruit? Was it just timing? Are these Scarlet Runner beans a late season plant that has to sense shortening days before it sets fruit? Or was the right amount of water too much? Maybe I had to let the plants suffer for a while to make them want to set fruit. I don't have the answers yet but I know one thing for sure: I'm not growing them again next year.

My muskmelon plants are growing well. Or at least they are trying to. There are two plants and one is supporting this nice size melon. And it's starting to look like a proper muskmelon. I just need the plant to stay healthy long enough for this melon to ripen. Problem with that is I'm not quite sure how to tell when it's ready.

No Beans

Despite the growth, I'm not getting any beans on my scarlet runner bean plants. I've been getting lots of flowers but they don't set fruit. There are several possibilities but none seem likely as I've grown beans in this container on this spot in the past and never had problems.

After lots of googling and filtering out information that appears wrong or misleading, I've narrowed down the possibilities and lack of pollinator insects is the most likely cause. I believe the flowers on these plants, although capable of self pollination, need a pollinator insect to help activate that mechanism. Not all beans are like this, but scarlet runners appear to fall into this category. I wonder if I can somehow do this myself?

If these plants aren't producing beans, I might need to do away with them soon. It's a hassle to have to water them all the time and they are starting to crowd out my melons that grow next to them.

First Official Harvest

I'll call this the first official harvest of the season because it's the first of the tomatoes. I've been averaging a strawberry a day for the past month now and they are still flowering. The tiny tom tomatoes are starting to ripen too but everyone around here is more interested in the black cherry tomatoes.

The scarlet runner beans are now full enough to block out the sun from the window behind the trellis. I'm constantly trimming the tops of new vines that overhang the top. It's starting to get crowded out their now. And in my attempt to tame the cantaloupes I managed to snap off the end of one of my plants. Fortunately it was already sending out secondary vines so it should be ok. The plants have some male flowers out now but the vines still have a long way to go.

Scarlet Runner Beans

Lots of flowers on the bean plants now and the trellis is covered. But the plants are taking a beating in the high heat and wind. The leaves sustain lots of damage from constantly rubbing up against one another. I think part of the problem is my decision to use heavy cord for support. It sways around too much in the wind. Perhaps using poles that are fixed to the frame would prevents the plants from moving around as much.

Scarlet Runner Beans

This is my first time growing scarlet runner beans. I seeded the container a couple of weeks ago and all but one seed came up. The other day I added some cord to the trellis to give them something to climb. I'm looking forward to the wall of green with red flowers that this will turn into.

Good-bye Beans

I thought I would take advantage of some free time and nice weather to go out and take down the pole bean plants. I harvested all the beans and the plants looked like they had had enough. The leaves were turning yellow and brown, there were no more flowers, the trellis was starting to fall apart... it was time to go. And I was getting tired of watering them. So with a pair of scissors I was able to take them down fairly quickly. My building provides a large green bin (green dumpster actually) for compost-able waste and it gets collected by the city. The balcony looks naked without the beans and their trellis. But on the plus side, I was able to a get one last sizeable bean harvest.

Big Bean

I normally pick the beans before they reach full maturity. I like them tender. So I must have missed this one the last time I picked the beans. The bean plants are putting out lots of flowers now so maybe I'll have another good harvest before the end of the summer.

The wall of green

It's impossible for me to take a picture that shows just how much is growing on the balcony now. In this image, all you can really see are the two big tomato plants. The beans growing behind them are  just as thick and behind that is the melon trellis. There is very little room to walk around these plants. From down on the street, it looks like a forest on my balcony. I've also got some smaller tomato plants growing along the balcony wall. And then there's the long container of basil on the floor of the balcony.

Lots of tomatoes still to ripen and I've been picking beans. But the plants are looking tired. Especially the big tomatoes. Leaves are curled and starting to turn yellow and purple. I need them to hang on for just a few more weeks... I get small harvests like this every few days now.

Basil and Tomatoes

I uprooted all the remaining lettuce and fino verde basil in my container on the edge of the balcony. In the free space I planted more bulls blood beats and some dill. I was at a grocery store yesterday and they had lots of fresh dill in the produce section. It smelled wonderful and made me want to grow some.

The Genovese basil is growing well, as it always does. It's growing tall and leaning towards the sun, trying to reach out around the shade cast by the nearby tomatoes and beans. But that's ok. No flowers and no aphids. Best time to start picking leaves.

My brandywine and black cherry tomato plants are starting to load up on fruit, with a few black cherry tomatoes starting to ripen. But I've run out of water soluble fertilizer. The plants are getting big and the lower leaves are starting to curl and turn yellow. They're sucking back lots of water every day. I'm going to have to splurge on some ferts.

We had a pretty big storm blow through yesterday. Lots of rain and wind. Nothing on the balcony was broken or blown over. But the pole beans are taking a real beating out there. Lots of leaves with damage. And like the tomatoes, the plants are nutrient starved. Lots of the older leaves on the lower parts of the vines have yellowed and died. But I am starting to see flowers so if I can get some nutrients into the soil, maybe the plants will live long enough to provide a small harvest.

Beans at the top

The beans are looking better now. Maybe it was the fertilizer I added to the water. The leaves are thicker and darker and don't seem to be as affected by the hot sun as they were a week ago. I'm pouring a good gallon and a half of water into the container (self watering) every day. Still no flowers yet = no beans. But still lots of time.

Basil on the balcony

I finally got around to potting out the Genovese basil. It was starting to get a little tall and lanky in the starter tray in the kitchen. A couple more weeks and I should be able to start picking leaves.  I also planted out some small determine tomato plants and some fino verde basil. The fino verde bothers me a bit because I inspected a leave that had spots that reminded me of spider mite damage. I'll have to keep an eye on it. I have more planted outside already so not a great lose if I have to toss it.

My pole beans have reached the top of the trellis and now I just have to wait for them to fill out. It will make a nice wall of green. But the leaves seem kind of weak and some are not as green as they should be. We've had a few days of really hot weather and the leaves seem to wilt more than I think they should. They always have plenty of water so maybe I'm watering them too much. Or they aren't getting enough nutrients. Most likely both are a problem so I'll back off on the water and use some inorganic ferts and see what happens.

Beans are climbing

The lettuce I planted in the spring is still providing. I keep threatening to pull it all up and make one last salad but it never happens. Lately we've been plucking a few leaves at a time for sandwiches, and tonight it was burgers. The lone beet at the back of the container provides a bit of cooling shade. Also starting to grow in there is some some fino verde basil and tiny tim and floragold tomato plants.

Using a couple of long bamboo poles I had on the balcony, I constructed something for the beans to climb. Each bean has its own cord to climb. I guess it's about 6 feet from the soil level to the top of the trellis. A bit higher would have been nice but I only had so much cord and didn't feel like buying more. Once the beans start twisting around their pole (or cord in my case) they shoot up fast and I figure a couple of these will reach the top by the end of next week. Some of the plants are a little late to the game and will take a little longer. But even with all the fast growth, it's going to be a while before I'm picking beans.

Summer at last

My pole beans are coming up fast now. I need to get some kind of structure above them so they have something to crawl onto. I can't be bothered to build anything so bamboo poles and plastic cable ties will have to do. I like to get them to grow up about 7 feet. Beyond that I find it gets harder to manage. And there isn't as much sunlight up high, close to the overhang over my balcony.

The wheat I planted must be stressed out because it's going to seed already. We've been getting a lot of rain so I haven't bothered to water it. And with all the mold on the leaves I figure it's nearly done anyways. It was a nice way to add a touch of green to the balcony, but now it's starting to turn into a touch of brown.

My tomatoes are growing well and the lettuce I keep mowing down is coming up again. It's the gift that keeps on giving. I still have lots of basil growing in the kitchen window I'll need to transplant to a larger container on the balcony soon. And I planted several small "micro" variety tomato plants that I've never grown before.

These are the beans I wanted

I've let my pair of Borlotti bean plants die with a load of bean pods hanging on them. Some of the pods are still green but as they turn yellow I've been picking and shelling them. And the beans inside have that nice specked appearance I've been waiting for. I won't get much - maybe 1/2 cup of shelled beans in all. Wonder what I should do with them...

Borlotti Beans

I planted a couple of Borlotti bean plants in a sunny spot this year and they're doing well. Borlotti are a shelling bean, also known as Roman or Cranberry Beans and are easily distinguishable by a splash of red on the bean pods .The sprawling colony of spider mites that suck on the plants juices are also doing well. I knock their population down with a light spray of dish soap and neem oil every now and then.

First Fava

I decided to pluck a fava bean off one of my little bean bushes and crack it open for a taste. It was a small pod, not quite 4 inches long with 3 beans inside. I'm glad I didn't wait too long to pick it because it tasted just right. No bitterness. Sweet. I tried growing this same variety last year and had no luck with them so this year I planted them in a sunnier spot and seem to be having a better time with them. Three plants with a couple of beans on each and still flowering but I don't expect much more.

Favas take a little work to get at the good stuff. The pods are thick and "furry" inside. Once open, you have to remove the beans and then peel off the thick membrane that surrounds each bean. What you're left with is what looks like a giant flattened pea. And they taste somewhat similar to peas also.

Way Too Hot

The yellow beans I planted were the first to produce. I've got a few fava beans going as well. Still nothing from the pole beans. Not a single flower. Mind you, they don't get as much sunlight.

Some extreme temperatures moving through the region. My air conditioning has been running full tilt and the temperatures are suppose to get hotter later in the week. I've been watering like mad to keep the plants hydrated. But the tomatoes aren't happy. Several are dropping their flowers. It's too hot and I'm over watering to compensate.

Bad Beans

I planted some bush beans in some free space that I had and some came up mangled starter leaves. And it was all of one specific variety I planted. The others came up fine. For some reason, the Borlotti Beans were trashed when they broke the soil surface. One poor plant had no starter leave to speak of.

I did a bit of research and have concluded that it was not a bird problem, nor was it an insect. It must be one of two things: I planted them too deep or the soil was too moist. Or maybe both. Interesting that the other plants were not affected though. There are some Yellow Beans growing next to these and they had no problems.

I'm going to guess I planted these too deep. Only three came up and I'm certain I seeded more than that. But all is not lost. Despite the initial lack of leaves, the first true leaves are emerging and they look fine. Now they just have to survive the inevitable wave of aphids and spider mites.

Frustration

So early in the season and I already see problems starting. I found a spot of mildew on a leaf of one of my pumpkin plants. Not a problem yet but I've seen what happens when it gets out of hand. On the other pumpkin, the new leaf growth is coming out a lighter shade of green with a few tiny dark spots - doesn't look good. The bambino eggplants are officially aphid infested. I'm trying to keep them away from everything else for now and squish out what I find when I find them. And most of the beans I planted that have come up are rotting - too much water. What was I thinking.





On the positive side though, the snap peas are doing well and producing lots of flowers. The broad beans are up and looking healthy. And I'm getting lots of blossoms on my pepper plants.