Broad Beans

Hello,

I've got some smallish broad bean plants on the plot and today I notice 2 things

1) I think I found a pea and bean weevil having a good old chomp and there are holes in the leaves - what to do?

and

2) there are ants climbing up and down them - I couldn't see any blackfly (are they big enough to see with the naked eye?) - any ideas? Is this a problem?

Thanks for helping a complete novice...!

My BB's are hardly 8 inches tall yet.
Anyone else's lagging behind?

Mine are about 8 inches high too.

Re. pinching off the tops - my understanding was that you do this when the first pod/s start to form.

Anyone got any better info? As I say, I'm a complete novice!

Sorry to barge in on your thread but i thought it better than making 2 about the same plant!

I am a complete novice too and have a couple of broad bean plants. Never tried them before. They are about 12" high but i noticed both have flowers appearing at the top. Do i pinch them off or leave them?

Leave the flowers - as the beans form from the flowers - you only need to pinch of the tops if there is a blackfly infestation 

My BB have stayed the same height of about six inches for the last month, but now with flowers. It is so dry in Suffolk with barely a shower of rain for the last two months. Watering all the produce  just to keep them moving. Am told that a local seed supplier is concerned about a possible shortage of BB seeds if we carry on with this dry weather for much longer.