Forum home Fruit & veg
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Lost control of my Runner Bean Jungle!

I feel like I’ve lost control of my runner beans 🙈 I planted one plant per cane but they’ve grown so much that I can’t even see into the middle so I’m sure I’m missing lots of beans.  

As they grew to the top of the cane I cut the tops off to stop them growing like Jack and the Beanstalk but we went away for a weekend at the end of June and just in a couple of days the beans went wild.  Is this normal?  There are lots of flowers and loads of bees doing their thing but I’m not getting loads of beans yet, I managed to find a handful today.  Am I doing something wrong as I’m sure my parents runner beans didn’t look like this? 
The other side …

South Devon 
«1

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Flowers buds come towards the sun, so most of the beans will be on the outside. Gently part the leaves to check for others, other than that I think you will have fine crop.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Maybe next year put your canes a bit further apart. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • CatDouchCatDouch Posts: 488
    Good idea @Lyn I’ll make a note to do that, I spaced them about 12 inches apart this year but they would definitely do with more space 👍
    South Devon 
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I think 12 inches is adequate. They seem to have branched low down (slug damage?) so there are multiple stems going up.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    How tall are the canes? I use 7 ft canes.
  • CatDouchCatDouch Posts: 488
    Hi @fidgetbones I think I could do with taller canes, from memory I think they were 6 foot canes but after being pushed into the earth obviously shorter.  
    I didn’t see any slug damage, I think what you’re seeing is where they’ve grown up and then over and down again.  It’s all a bit of a tangled mess 🙈 but we had a decent meal of them tonight, it’s just a bit difficult rummaging through to find them 😏
    South Devon 
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Yes they need taller canes than 6ft.
    AB Still learning

  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    I'm prompted to ask how many is/are 'we', i.e. how many mouths are you trying to feed?  We're probably on roughly the same latitude as you (Co Cork) but have only been cropping for a couple of weeks, so you're not that much behind.  I always plant @ one foot apart, but TWO per stick.  As long as you now start to pick enough for your needs by exploring inside the mass, I wouldn't worry because the tough knobbly pods you find when you eventually dismantle the lot will provide more than enough seed for next year if dried on a tray in the airing cupboard.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I grow up a tent type arrangements where two canes cross half way up if that makes sense. I lash a cane across the crossing part to stabilise the whole thing.  Because most of the beans are in the upper half, they tend to hang clear that way.  If you grow the circle at the bottom and canes altogether at top, (wigwam)they are too crowded at top.  Get the longest canes you can.
  • CatDouchCatDouch Posts: 488
    @nick615 there’s only 2 of us and my husband wouldn’t choose to eat runner beans but does 😂😂 but I also like to give some away to my parents who aren’t up to growing veg any more due to their age.  Hopefully if it ever warms up they’ll start producing more and like you said I’ll find some at the end of the season that I’ll use for seeds for next year 👍

    @fidgetbones underneath all that is a ‘tent’ arrangement rather than a circular wigwam. I’ve just remembered that I dismantled my large compost bin last year (as rats were beginning to show signs of setting up home 😳) and I emptied all the rich compost into my raised bed so perhaps it’s extremely nutrient rich and that’s why there are so many leaves? 
    South Devon 
Sign In or Register to comment.