How To Grow Runner Beans

Would you like to grow a vegetable that will be enough for a family for eight weeks and still have lots left for freezing? Choose runner beans. They are most prolific and once started, they crop continually to the end of the season; the more you pick, the more they grow. Amazingly, a 1.5 metre double row of plants can produce up to 15kg of beans! Once you have tasted runner beans straight off the vine, you will never be satisfied with shop-bought beans again. All you need is a little bit of pepper, and butter drizzled over hot steamed beans – delicious. Freezing them couldn’t be easier, just Blanche in boiling water for a couple of minutes, drain, allow to cool, pack then freeze.

There are many different varieties of beans and you don’t even need a garden to grow them. Also, runner bean flowers are extremely decorative coming in white, pink or red so fit well into a patio design. Grow the dwarf varieties in large pots or use the purpose made polypropylene containers for the climbing types.

Here we look at the easy ways for successfully growing your own runner beans.

They grow best in a sunny well drained area of the garden in fertile soil, preferably somewhere protected from strong winds. Beans are quite hungry plants so will benefit from feeding throughout the season and remember to keep them well watered.

They also need support to enable them to climb and the traditional method is to use canes inserted into the soil about 15-20cm apart and placed in two rows at a distance of 50-60 cms. Bend the tops of the canes and tie together to form a slight arch or A-frame. A horizontal cane tied to the top improves the rigidity of the structure. Many people prefer to grow their beans up wigwams which are simple to make but maybe not quite as easy to harvest. However, if you have limited space, wigwams are ideal. Insert 6-8 canes into the soil about 15cms apart in a circular pattern and tie the tops together to form your wigwam. The height of the canes depends on the variety of beans but 2.4m is a good size to use.

From mid May to mid June sow two beans beside each cane and remove the weaker of the two seedlings. The young plants will quite happily curl around the canes and support themselves but at the very beginning it helps by gently attaching the plant to bottom of their cane. When the bean plants reach the top of their canes, pinch out the growing tip which will encourage side shoots, therefore more bean pods to develop.

Some Varieties to try

Runner Bean Enorma

Extra long beans of fine quality and taste will be freely produced from July onwards

Runner Bean Galaxy

Galaxy is a scarlet flowered runner bean which sets its flowers readily whatever the summer weather! A bumper crop of succulent, string less pods through many weeks is therefore guaranteed

Hestia