[Can you eat that?]

I have this memory of reading or being told that at this time of year if you pinch out the growing tops of broad beans they will grow multiple stems and increase the yield.

None of my books confirm this, am I just fantasising?

The plants I bought last year ( rare breed Broad beans) had three stems , of course I bought them on holiday so can't go back to ask.

[DD.]

I don't do broad beans, but the only reason I know for pinching out the tops is to discourage blackfly.

[Can you eat that?]

Yes so do I , much later in the season, and very tasty they are too.

[Snoop]

For what it's worth, I had quite a few bits of my broad bean plants suffer in the snow, frost and wind. I snapped off the obviously dead ones, and new shoots have sprouted from the base.

[Salmo]

Broad beans often produce extra tillers from the base. Nothing to do with pinching out the tops which is done later to curtail blackfly invasion.

I suspect that many of the broad beans damaged by the frost will shoot from the base so leave them alone even if they look battered beyond recovery.

[digby]

Am I the only one who has only just put them in? I never get around to sowing them in the autumn

I would hold off on pinching out the tops, it will discourage blackfly but it's still a little early in the year and you want a good strong centre stalk for the beans.

[Nikkithefoot]

I started some of about a month ago in pots outside. My plot isn't quite ready due to the awful wet winter weather we have had. I have tried autumn sown ones in the past and whilst I had a fair crop I felt that those on my allotment site got a better crop from their spring sown ones. I guess the only advantage of autumn sown is they crop marginally earlier (but not early enough IMHO to be worthwhile) and therefore the ground is cleared for other crops three weeks or so earlier.

[Gwiz]

I only sowed the first batch last week in  pots in the greenhouse.

[davethespread]

mine are in toilet roll tubes in the greenhouse (aquadulce) and are just showing through and i got bunyards to go in soon.

[Can you eat that?]

People think of broad beans as a winter sown veg as it is one of the earliest things that you can plant.

But IMO you get just as good yields with the Spring sown beans as those planted in the Winter. Last year I planted my last beans early in June in a spare corner , despite tutting from the old hands, and managed a couple of meals out of 8 plants.


I won't pinch the tops out of these plants yet, but I might try on some more bog standard plants later on in the year.

[jolly jen]

my braod beans i planted in oct ,all were eaten by the rats as soon as they came up the same for my peas,
so i had to restart them again at home,i done this indoors on my window so they would catch up ,they are very healthy plants,which have now been moved out into the cold frame ,which i have put a layer of bubble wrap over ,to keep warm,give it a cople more weeks and i will put out in my raised beds.but i pinched the tops off them ,as they were getting too leggy indoors