GOT A FRUIT OR VEG PROBLEM? ASK KG FOR HELP

THIS MONTH’S EXPERT PANEL:

EMMA RAWLINGS

Deputy editor, Kitchen Garden magazine

ANDREW TOKELY

Horticultural director, Kings Seeds

DAVID PATCH

Professional nurseryman, R V Roger Ltd

ANNE SWITHINBANK

Contributor to Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time

STEVE OTT

Editor, Kitchen Garden magazine

STAR★ QUESTION WINS £25 VOUCHER

BORED BEANS

Has anybody encountered the problem I have had the last couple of years with my stored broad bean seed? They are okay when I harvest them, but when I come to sow them a grub has bored its way out of them. Do you think the grub was in the seed when I picked them?

Keith Jack, Liverpool

STEVE SAYS: Yes, the larvae of the bean seed beetle would have been inside the beans when harvested and the adult beetles have since burrowed out. The adults lay their eggs on the bean pods as they are forming and the larvae burrow into the developing seeds, feeding on the cotyledons (seed leaves). It is only later once they have pupated that you see the exit holes.

Although there is no control for the problem, seeds will often still germinate as the seed leaves are not all consumed. You may however, decide to rogue these out or if it affects many of your seeds to buy some fresh stocks in (although I have seen it in new packets of seeds from reputable suppliers).