Which runner bean

Runner beans Phaseolus coccineus are one of the easiest crops to grow, bearing masses of long, sweet-tasting beans all summer long. You can even grow them a large container. Find out all you need to know about growing runner beans in our runner bean Grow Guide. The pretty red, white or bi-coloured flowers are edible and have a beany flavour — use them as a garnish or to decorate salads.

It has bright red flowers and produces heavy crops of long, smooth, dark-green pods with an great flavour. So even if you grew one plant, you would enjoy a tasty crop. Its ability to set beans even in poor weather means it outcrops many other varieties.

They have a good flavour. Try growing sweet peas alongside your runner beans — not only does the combination look pretty, it will help to attract beneficial pollinators, too. Space plants at least 15cm apart, in single rows, double rows that are 60cm apart, or around wigwams. Runner beans are damaged by frost so cover them with fleece if frost is forecast.

Once they get going, runner beans need little attention, apart from regular watering in dry summers. Give a good soaking every day in hot weather, or twice a week in normal dry conditions. If plants get too dry, they won't flower or set beans well. Harvest in: July to October. The main job is keeping up with picking beans. They need picking every two to three days in warm conditions. You want to pick them before they develop seeds and turn tough to eat. Any that have passed their best should be picked and composted to encourage the plant to keep producing fresh pods.

Planting too early when temperatures are low will cause bean plants to turn yellow and fail to thrive. The best advice is to resow at the right time and start again. Sometimes plants flower but don't produce beans. There are several possible causes, including dry roots and cold or hot nights. Usually cropping picks up as conditions improve.

Runner-bean varieties that have been crossed with French beans are less prone to this problem, such as 'Moonlight'. Read more about plants failing to make beans. Blackfly is the most common pest and damages the plants by sucking their sap. Either squash these insects or spray them with an organic insecticide.

Read more about blackfly. Find out how to grow delicious-tasting beans, including how to avoid summer gluts. Discover our best runner bean varieties and tips for how to grow them. CT Ceri Thomas. In this article How to grow runner beans: month by month Best runner bean varieties How we test runner beans When to sow Caring for your plants How and when to harvest Common growing problems.

Best Buy runner beans What it looks like Variety name Yield per plant 0. Its beans were straight and uniform with attractive, smooth skin, excellent flavour and stringless, soft-skinned pods. It started cropping a few days after other varieties, but had the same impressive overall yield.

Adjust all dates to your locality UK, Ireland, France. Click here. This site uses cookies. Learn more. By David Marks Runner Beans stand out as slightly unusual in the bean family of vegetables.

Not only do they wind up their supports in the opposite direction to other bean plants but, unlike French Beans, they also need bees to produce a crop of beans.

Most runner beans are self-pollinating but require bees or other insects to set their bean pods. For some reason, warmer than normal night time temperatures result in a poor crop of beans although the production of flowers is not affected. This may be one reason why some gardeners spray their plants in the evening of warm nights - it will have a generally cooling effect.

If you just can't stand even a small amount of "stringiness" to your runner beans then this is the one for you. Even if you let them reach past maturity they still remain stringless. In these circumstances the whole pod will eventually get a fibrous quality to it but definitely no string! Awarded an AGM in this variety is stringless if picked when young.

Attractive red flowers which produce a slightly later than normal crop of tasty beans. Good for exhibiting in the "longest runner bean" competitions. Produces a reliable crop of largish beans with red flowers. The beans are stringless and they set well in most weather conditions.

This particular variety shows significant differences between the various seed merchants so bargain priced seeds may be the result of a poor breeding program and not produce the best that this variety is capable of. The pods are fleshy, straight and very tasty. A reliable cropper which produces beans a week or two earlier than average, expect to be harvesting 13 to 14 weeks after sowing.

It continues to produce runner beans up till the first frosts. Some silly claims have been made by one of the seed companies that it produces a crop within 40 days, take it from us, it does not. But it does produce larger crops earlier in the season compared to most other varieties because it sets bean pods very reliably from its attractive red flowers.

The flowers are red and white making it the most attractive of all the runner beans. It's a strong grower producing crisp, stringless pods. This variety produces decent beans however they are by no means stringless so need to be picked when young.

More modern varieties have better disease resistance and grow better beans but if you want a slice of history then this bean will not disappoint. Snowdrift was introduced in by Mr Fothergill's to enable this variety to self-pollinate without the intervention of bees.