Hi there, can you throw some light on my beans, like, where are they? I have a very healthy row of scarlet runner bean plants scrambling over some bamboo stakes. They look fantastic but they have never flowered and consequently, there are no beans. They are well supported, watered and I have fed them occasionally with liquid seaweed. What can I do to promote flowers and beans? Thank you, Heather.

To promote flowering you need to have potassium (potash) fertiliser to help initiate flowering. It sounds like your soil may be rich in nitrogen which will give you the healthy green growth which comes from adding nitrogen rich material such as compost, blood and bone, sheep pellets to the soil. Beans fix nitrogen from the air so additional nitrogen can lead to lots of leafy growth.

Hold off adding any more seaweed liquid too. Use a balanced fertiliser such as Tui NovaTec Premium or add Tui Sulphate of Potash to the soil. You can also test your soil to find out exactly what is lacking or needed in the soil. You can buy inexpensive soil test kits from garden centres and hardware stores.

Unfortunately you will have missed this growing season to get beans. We have heard of people cutting their vines down and letting them regrow the following season. If you have the space you could try this and see what happens!

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