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No runner beans yet this year....

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  • EustaceEustace Posts: 2,290
    I think you shouldn't cut off the tops; the flowers are at the top and more will come when they grow out. If you can somehow support the top tendrils by looping them downwards, that will be better.
    Oxford. The City of Dreaming Spires.
    And then my heart with pleasure fills,
    And dances with the daffodils (roses). Taking a bit of liberty with Wordsworth :)

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I’m pretty sure if you cut the tops they bloom lower down,  like most plants. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Thank you @Dovefromabove . How did you crop it? I'll give them a dose of tomato feed and keep watering as usual It is supposed to be cooler next week..... 🤞🏻


    I saved it to my phone then cropped it. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487

    Siobhancantgarden   The pea and bean family like a slightly alkaline soil.  You don't say where you are but, as it can't do any harm, I'd sprinkle a dressing of lime granules around your plants to see if that improves things.  Ours are cropping fairly well but not the deluge we normally get.
  • REMF33REMF33 Posts: 731
    My mother's neighbour in south Sheffield who has been growing runner beans every year for over 40 years said he is not getting any this year and that this has never happened before as far as he can remember. His gardening friends in the wider area have the problem. Could it be the weather? He says they show no signs of being otherwise unhealthy.
  • REMF33 said:
    My mother's neighbour in south Sheffield who has been growing runner beans every year for over 40 years said he is not getting any this year and that this has never happened before as far as he can remember. His gardening friends in the wider area have the problem. Could it be the weather? He says they show no signs of being otherwise unhealthy.
    exactly...I've only grown runners once before but french beans every year without problem and they are otherwise perfectly healthy.
  • msqingxiaomsqingxiao Posts: 482
    My runner beans (Moonlight) are similar to last year's, probably only slightly less crops but I'd say it is due to the slugs nibbling out some of my seedlings earlier this year.... I've got 5 plants all growing in half a square meter's area, same location as last year, didn't even bother improving the soil... Daily watering with one 3L coke bottle's worth. Even as we were just away for four days in this dry weather (with no watering at all), they all seem fine, amazingly......
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Normally by this time I am giving away carrier bags full. So far lots of flowers but no beans. I keep watering and live in hope.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    My runner beans (Moonlight) are similar to last year's, probably only slightly less crops but I'd say it is due to the slugs nibbling out some of my seedlings earlier this year.... I've got 5 plants all growing in half a square meter's area, same location as last year, didn't even bother improving the soil... Daily watering with one 3L coke bottle's worth. Even as we were just away for four days in this dry weather (with no watering at all), they all seem fine, amazingly......
    We’re also growing Moonlight … we planted a bit early and have already filled our freezer. We use a trench system and keep that damp and the beans have done really well. 
    A few small ones shrivelled during the really hot days but otherwise they keep on cropping. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Over many years of growing I have found climbing French beans always do better in hot dry summers, runner beans do better in cooler wetter years. Varieties like Moonlight are a hybrid,and I too find them very good.
    It's definitely the hot dry conditions that are causing, some problems.  As well as watering  & feeding with a high potash feed you can try spraying the flowers with water in the late evening,  which helps the pollen to set. 
    AB Still learning

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