blog: coopette.com: Broad Bean Booster Experiment 2009

Broad Bean Booster Experiment 2009

I’ve never had a great deal of success with broad beans – possibly because I usually grow them in containers and they haven’t had a chance to find the right bacteria with which to form a symbiotic relationship. No bacteria = no root nodules = no nitrogen fixed from the air.

I wrote about bean boosters this time last year, and this year I’m going to do an experiment to see whether they work. I’m going to grow two batches of broad beans, in 2 containers, and apply the bean booster to one set to see what difference it makes. The second set will be the control – treated identically in every way, except without the booster.

Will the plants grow faster? Will they be bigger and stronger? Will the harvests be bigger? Will they have root nodules when I dig them up at the end of their life?

For this experiment I will need:

A packet of bean booster. Ordered this morning from Mr. Fothergill’s for the princely sum of £2.83, including P&P.

Broad bean seeds. I have two opened packets, one of Stereo and the other The Sutton (both from The Organic Gardening Catalogue). Most likely I will sow a mixture of both; they can both be sown from February onwards.

Compost. I’ll have to get some fresh potting compost, so that they both get the same treatment and there’s no stray garden bacteria floating around in it.