It seems like Limas take forever to bloom ...be patient and quit worrying...

Three things to check. cultivar. There are not that many pole cultivars, but the small ones in general produce better than the big ones. The colored ones produce better than the white. Soil pH; they like a neutral soil. 3. fertility; low nitrogen, high phosphate. In this part of Georgia (Augusta) some cultivars don't set in hot weather, but load up in September. Willow Leaf and Florida Speckled Butterbean are the most succesful under my conditions.

"Soil pH; they like a neutral soil."

Does that apply to other beans (e.g. cow peas) as well. I know my soil tends toward acidity. Do you suppose that is why my pink eye purple hulls started out with a lot of yellow on their leaves, which they have now grown out of. One of my pole bean varieties has yellowish lower leaves now, although it is healthy otherwise. Doesn't acidity tie up some nutrients?

Jim

Cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) and beans ( phaseolus vulgaris) will grow at a pH above 5.5. They are nowhere near as fussy as limas ( Phaseolus lunatus). The major problem with limas and a pH below 6.0 is blossom drop. They just won't set. Like beets they demand a well limed soil. Lots of veggies are not real fussy, but it pays to maintain a pH of 6.0-7.0

Jimster,
I just got my soil test results and my PH is 6.8.
I also innoculated them with the appropriate rhizobium bacteria.
They are a beautiful dark deep green and the vines are at least 15 feet long!
My pinkeye purple hulls are doing great. I started them late. I thought they were bush beans but they are 3 feet long and still growing.

Greg