How many runner beans per cane

An X-frame takes up more space, but picking is easier and cropping is usually better. Again, use 1. Wigwams make an attractive feature in a border or veg plot and also work well when growing in containers. Remove the growing point once the plants reach the top of their support. This encourages side-shoots and prevents plants becoming top-heavy. Runner beans are thirsty plants and crop best when watered regularly, especially once they start to flower and form pods.

Regular and generous watering is particularly important for plants growing in containers, which dry out more quickly. Spread a thick mulch of well-rotted manure or mushroom compost over the soil in July to help hold in moisture. Add mulch after planting and water regularly and generously, ideally in the evenings. Flower set is better in alkaline, chalky soil. If your soil is neutral or acidic, try applying lime. If this is a recurring problem and you live in a mild area, try growing varieties with some French bean parentage, which set pods more easily in warmer summers.

More on problems with runner bean flower set. Runner beans are one of the easiest vegetables to grow. However, a few pests and diseases can be problematic, one of the most common being black bean aphids. Young plants also need protection from slugs and snails. Occasionally, fungal or bacterial diseases such as rust or halo blight can develop, while in warm, dry conditions red spider mites may get established.

In the case of broad beans, pinch out infested tips. On other beans, catch populations when small and squash. These feed on the young seedlings and you'll see the tell tale slime trail on the soil around your crop, as well as on the leaves. There are many ways to control slugs and snails, including beer traps, sawdust or eggshell barriers, copper tape and biocontrols. Plant or sow beans into soil that has had plenty of organic matter, such as well-rotted manure added the previous autumn, as this will aid moisture and nutrient retention around the roots.

Plant in a sheltered site as this will encourage bees to visit and pollinate the plants. A common fungal disease of many plants that can be recognised by orange, yellow or black spots or blisters that form on leaves, along with pale and distorted stems. Leaves can fall and in severe cases, plants will eventually die. Dig up badly infected plants and dispose of to prevent the spores spreading to other plants.

Carefully check plants before buying to ensure they are healthy and show no signs of disease. Nigel Slater recommends serving runner beans with lemon and garlic crumbs , as a lovely side dish for grilled fish.

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But we ended up freezing so many that we ended up throwing some away when the next years crop came off. Runners, we do 20 canes, in a row 10 per side, and grow two up each.

Have done wigwams for runners in the past, found them to get so top heavy that in strong winds they were close to falling over. Pea, we've pretty much settled on Alderman, last year we did wigwam style with netting, leaving a couple of small gaps where we reach into the middle.

This year we are going to try and do the Alderman on rows to see how we get on with that. Didn't get enough off to freeze but certainly enough to enjoy with meals. As back garden growers, one things a certainty, we would need more space to grow more peas to get anywhere near as good a crop as we do off beans.

I love climbing bean Cosse Violette which is so tender even when it's got too big Not rampant either climbing borlotties don't seem as vigorous as runner beans. I planted 'Lamon' last year and you need quite a lot of plants, two per cane, to get an appreciable number of beans. I dried mine for soups and stews etc They looked lovely on the wigwams with some flowers at the base.

Thanks for all the responses, they're very helpful. Having digested all this info, here's my amended plan. This would give me 32 plants Alderman and 12 plants runner, to balance out the relative cropping densities.

For the 2 French bean varieties, borlotto, mangetout, sugarsnap I'll do a wigwam each, and I'll risk 2 plants a cane.

If they get too overgrown I can always chop bits out. That sound about right? Kristen Hero Member Location: Suffolk I plant my runners two-per-cane and put a seed in when I plant out for a later, follow-on crop. I do the same for Climbing French which tend to have a shorter cropping season, the Runners go on pretty much until first frost anyway Maybe depends a bit how far apart your canes are though.

Pages: [ 1 ] 2 Go Up. Similar Topics. At last September 03, , by janeheritage. I had over 10kg of runner beans from one pot a supermarket crate last year! Hi Mark Thank you so much for your informative reply. My container is the base of a now redundant wormery, so much the same size as a supermarket crate, but perhaps a bit deeper. I will follow your example and leave two strong growing plants on each cane, but removing any obvious weaklings.

If I get anywhere near 10kg of beans I will be delighted. Regards Andrew. Volume of soil is the key thing. It is easier to achieve this in large volumes of soil. Homemade compost is good as an additive — but sometimes harder to grow in on its own. Hi Some advice please I am planting out my runner beans in a nice large container and am planning to grow them in fresh shop bought levington compost but I wondered if it would improve the compost if I mixed in some shop bought Westland top soil.

Can you advise me please. Rhys Price First time bean grower. They look ok, but it looks like the part of the plant beyond the bent stem is wilting. There are new vines growing up so should I trim the damaged parts of the plant to avoid fungus and infections? Thank you very much, Destine. Any advice please? If it is outside, this is probably due to the cold. Best to start runners inside and move out in June. Hi, How many runner beans should you put in a 20cm pot and how many should you put in a pot that holds 40 litres?

Also, do runner beans have long roots and will they get squashed if I put them in a smaller container? Sorry, I posted this comment again as I think I deleted it the first time. The number of plants depends on both surface area and volume of container. They do have quite long roots, but they seem to grow fine in 5 — 6 inches depth of soil — as long at there is also a good volume of compost eg like in a veg crate. Thank you. HI Tim, you need holes in the bottom — or the soil can get waterlogged which will drown the beans the roots need air as well as water.

Recycling boxes are the perfect size for beans, you should get a good crop. What do I do. If they are too big to keep inside, move outside and try to protect them — eg put plastic drinks bottles over the top of them like mini cloches. And, if possible, bring inside if frost predicted. Alternatively, sow another batch inside — now is a good time.

I have 30cm wide 40cm depth pots can i grow runner beans up a trellis in that if so how many plants per pot? Hi Charlotte, runners like to be kept well watered and the larger the pot, the easier it is to do this. Unlike many fruiting crops, you can grow runners quite close together. Hope this helps and good luck.

Hi Mark I have grown runner beans in a corner of my garden foe several years and they have cropped well. They grew well initially and flowered but there are not many beans, there are just stumps where the flowers have fallen off and some tiny beans. Also the leaves have gone sparse and yellow and in some cases black. I have some photos which I could send you.

Can you suggest anything that could be causing these problems. I am growing runner beans in pots i have had some success with the beans but the leaves look abit wilted and yet i water and feed them and the shape of the beans vary in shape as well, what could the problem be. Should be a good project! It tends to get quite hot here in Summer and I am not sure if they like the heat. My dad we are originally from England used to grow them in Ontario, Canada and was always successful.

Will they withstand the heat? I plan to plant them in a more shaded area and be sure they get a lot of water! Nothing better than fresh runners!! Has anyone else tried to grow runner beans as houseplants?

Have they produced any beans as they need pollinators? Hi Mark, I am planning on starting my edible garden adventure and considering on starting with beans in pots. Do you think growing 9 pole bean plants in a 30 cm wide square pot which is about 30 L in volume a fair calculation?

Yes, that sounds fine — if you can keep it well watered you may even be able to grow a few more perhaps try 12? Most fruiting crops need to be well spaced, but climbing beans and peas can be grown closer than most. Good luck with it! Hi Mark, Thank you for your reply. I grew 8 in this pot but some seem to be struggling, hopefully with time they will pick up. Will keep you updated. Thanks again for your time. Hi, I start saving my loo rolls in early spring and when ready to sow my beans fill them with compost in a half tray.

This gives them a good deep root system ready for them to be planted out. Can I link the pots with another cane to make a feature out of them or will that effect the harvest of the beans. Just saw my old post from last year.

The beans grew great by this method and I had a fab sunscreen out of it too. The harvest was good too. Runner beams with everything lol. Doing the same this year too. Well 2 of my seeds have sprouted really well. The 2 initial leaves are quite huge now. But my question is, which part of the plant is supposed to climb onto something for support? I have left a wire hanging from the wall between the 2 initial leaves hopping that the plant will cling onto it. Is this enough or should I tie it by a thread or piece of cloth as well?

How long would it take to climb? Secondly, do runner beans mind full sun? Runners are good climbers unlike most peas so should cling on without needing further tying.

Full sun is fine — make sure they are well watered and they should do great! Can you please tell me the recommended and necessary depth of a pot to grow runner beans in?

Secondly how long can the vine grow? Hiya, thanks for your question. The vines can grow well over two metres 6 feet tall — pinch out the tops when they get to the height you want — this will encourage side shoots. There seems to be only one problem though as of now.

Any tips on this one? How long have you have been waiting? There could be several reasons, most probably they are just be being a bit slow. Lower temperatures for example will make for slower germination. Other possibilities include old or poor quality seed or an issue with the growing media… but hopefully they are up now! I have a pot whose height is 16 inches and top diameter is almost 12 inches. So I suppose that will do the trick. Thanks for the info.

Start your runner beans in large fizzy drink bottles kept anywhere inside …. When the weather is suitable make suitable holes in the bottle with an old soldering iron for aeration, watering and drainage.

Hang the bottles on a wall without its screw cap and arrange support for plant growth. Shade bottle from strong sunlight with black polyethene while allowing them to get warm. Hi Kim, grow bags are quite shallow and can dry out quickly. Runner beans like lots of water so that could be the problem? Put your finger into the soil to see how dry it feels.

There are other possibilities — for example the quality of the compost in the grow bag as it varies from make to make. When grown in large pots, try angling the canes outwards.

This way, the beans are more likely to fall straight and on the outside instead of becoming entangled in the middle of the wigwam. The est and most reliable method of starting runner beans is to put a few hand fulls of damp multi purpose compost in a plastic supermarket bag warm it up on an airing cupboard tank over night while soaking the bean seeds in water over night then putting the beans in with the compost shake them up and keep on the tank for four days then they will have germinated pot these up two inches deep to grow once they grow above soil level keep in good light and plant when large enough it never fails.

I have loads of flowers and beans, but there seems to be loads of leaves. Is it ok to cut them down without damaging the beans? Hi Tina, I think cutting some off is usually OK — probably not too many in one go, though.

What are you feeding them? Sometimes they grow a glut of leaves when there is too much nitrogen in the soil — so its a good idea to feed with something not to high in nitrogen. Comfrey tea or tomato feed are two good options. I have many runner bean plants covered in red flowers but they do not seem to be pollinating. Your not only having a bad bean time in Watford we have the same in Leicester think we have been getting Bees that we are not use to foreign ones I think.

Sometimes nectar robbing beas will make a hole in the base of the flower to nick the nectar with out pollinating — perhaps that is what your bees are doing? Tell tale signs are holes in the flowers. Old living near you in Hemel. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks, Peter. I still think our runners and broad beans should be looking bigger and better, so my next question is about sunlight.

How much sunlight is best? Can they have too much? Ours are in direct sunlight when we get some sun from sunrise to about 3pm south facing garden.

They are the easiest to grow, the best vegetable to eat and the best looking veg when in flower. They take very little looking after. I grow them successfully every year. I cannot praise or recommend them enough!. Anyone wanting advice can contact me whenever they want. Cliff Walker. We removed a tall pine tree earlier this year close to our rear boundary wall and after a bit of cultivation thought I would try growing a few bits in what had been a pretty baron piece of land.

Am I wasting my time? Hi Cliff, Glad to hear such positive comments about growing runner beans. I too, love to grow and eat them. Do you know if I should pinch out the two outer shoots these are now thriving and strong and a few inches taller than the central stem or should I leave well alone?

Lauren Payne-Fraser. Hi Cliff We love them too and with a small garden I make wigwams in large patio tubs. I sowed 25 this year but only 5 germinated Unwins Emergo. Inprevious years I have had flower fall — a lot and wonder if you can advise me of how to avoid this problem — Thanks Tony.