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23 Jul 15 Jean (Australia - tropical climate)

We can grow most vegetables successfully but never have any luck with beans. I have planted some and they are looking pale and not growing. The soil has lots of old horse manure and I fertilise my veggies fortnightly with seasol . Last week was cold for our area and we had frost. The plants are watered regularly. I would appreciate your advice on what we are doing wrong. Thank you

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23 Jul 15 Prometheus (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

It depends how cold your winters are; if you've had frost and temps are dropping below 15 degrees at night, it's currently too cold to be growing green beans with great success. I've only grown broad beans in the past and they were quite tolerant of temps into the low 30s, so provided your Spring doesn't heat up too quickly you're probably best waiting until late August or even September. Again, really depends on the nightly lows. Also beware that Seasol is merely a tonic, not a fertiliser (it doesn't have the nutrients in appreciable quantities to make a difference). The same company makes a comprehensive liquid fertiliser called 'Powerfeed' which, combined with Seasol, has worked wonders for my container chillies in the past (the standard version isn't certified organic but there is a certified organic version available now, albeit much diluted compared to the standard version). Depending on how many nutrients are left over from the manure, the lack of regular fertiliser may also be the problem - so I'd try something like Powerfeed or Searles 5-in-1 liquid fertiliser in addition to the Seasol (every week or two). Best of luck

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