My broad beans are developing well. Apparantly it's not advised to plant alliums next to them, but there was a lot of evidence in forums online that this was totally erroneous, so I left them where they were.
I did wonder if they would be fertilised under the netting, even though I had changed it to one with larger holes. I suppose insects are wired to scent and can negotiate small spaces, so all should be well. There was only one way to find out, and that was to leave the net in place.
I can tell now that some of the flowers are falling off and revealing the tiny seed pod inside that all is going to plan. It may be that they have been partially pollinated by the wind. Only when the crop really starts to ripen will I be able to tell how well fertilised the plants were.
The trouble with leaving them unnetted is that they are then totally exposed to the predations of vermin, and I'm not prepared to lose yet another crop to their talons and jaws.
The beans are developing so well that they are needing a little help with support, as many were drooping down. I've now tied them up with pink string to the stakes, so when the beans start developing they won't break under the weight of them.
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