A Runner Bean Question.

[Brambles]

I've always grown Runner Beans up canes, but I'm sure I remember my dad growing them as what he called 'ground beans' by pinching out the growing tips and growing them effectively as dwarf beans. Can anyone tell me if my memory serves me right? or am I making the whole thing up!!

[jansman]

Your memory is fine! An old boy on my former allotment site did that with runners.Swore by it ,and he did get results. He did it to save messing with canes,and also because he did his rows end to end,rather than across.This was so he could weed with a rotavator to save time.He reall was a factory farmer! Thanks for bringing it up Brambles,I am going to sow a row.

[Brambles]

Phew! That's a relief.

I can remember dad getting hefty crops, we never went short. I think he did it for similar reasons, not having to use canes.

[ForgeCorvus]

We grow runners up strings & canes, then we plant dwarf beans underneath

[grenfell]

We've planted salad crops under ours in the past but I have heard of the idea of growing the beans on the ground not that I have ever tried it. I can remember my feather discussing it but couldn't really see what the benefits are. Seems a waste of space to grow a climber along the ground and my father always worried about beans potentially rotting on the ground if the weather turned wet.

[jansman]

When I saw Roy do it,he sowed an allotment end to end,not side to side.He had no time for messing with bean fences as half of one row of his 10 rod plot was down to runners.He weeded with a rotavator between thw rows.He reckoned that the ten minutes it took him to sow a thirty foot row of beans made up for rotten crops,as he was not pratting about with sticks!

In a shtf situation,with enough land,this would be perfect.Minimum effort,maximum results.

[Brambles]

I too can attest to the ground beans growing method. My dad never used sticks or canes and we always had plenty for the family of 5, some to swap and for mum to salt down for the winter (we used to call the salted beans summer in a jar). So if dad did lose any crop, he must have planted enough to make up for the losses. Glad my memory was correct, I think I'll give it a go when I next have the space.

[ForgeCorvus]

Let us know how it goes, always interested in new stuff

[grenfell]

I start my runner beans off on the window cill and plant them out when they've grown a bit. The biggest problem I have is with young plants . If I put them out when they are still small the leaves get eaten , a bit taller and they are left alone. It's perhaps the idea off all those juicy slug dinners trailing on the ground that makes me reticent to try this method.

[jansman]

Slug pellets.