Select your climate zone What is my climate zone?

Growing Climbing beans, also Runner beans, Scarlet Runners

(Phaseolus vulgaris)

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
        P P            

(Best months for planting Climbing beans in United Kingdom - temperate/cool regions)


  • Easy to grow.
  • Harvest in 65-80 days
  • Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
  • Best planted at soil temperatures between 16°C and 30°C.
  • Space plants: 10-20cm

Grow beans up fences, trellis, sweet corn, trees. Almost anywhere can be 'vertically productive'.

Keep well watered and pick regularly to encourage new flowers. Watch out for snails, as they will eat through the stems near ground level, and will completely eat newly sprouted beans. If you have nice new beans plants one day, and none the next, then it is probably slugs or snails.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Climbing beans

Use young in salads - blanch and cool. Will freeze well.

Your comments and tips

15 Mar 09 marg (Australia - tropical climate)
I have snake climbing beans all up side of fernhouse and very healthy........but no beans. Put potash on a few days ago. Have been mulched and well watered , with some seaweed fertilizer.
12 Apr 09 mickey (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
we are growing purple climbers but bugs have taken over with lava growing inside the stems,can anyone help...
13 Apr 09 Cris (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Grubs are garbage collecters. You are missing a nutrient or the beans are not in the right climate, etc. Are you using town(poison) water? I found that just getting the minerals up with that balck coal ash they sell for drainage works well. I use sea minerals, fish, etc. as well now. Have very few problems. Any step you make towards better plant health will up the resistance to pests. Read "Science in Agriiculture" by Arden Andersen if you want to find out more. Cheers Cris
04 Jan 10 Lean Lim (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Help! My scarlet runner beans are producing lots of flowers but no beans. Why are the beans not forming?
05 Jan 10 Kate (Australia - temperate climate)
Scarlet runner beans will only set when it is cool.... any heat at all will make lots of beautiful flowers but no beans. They will set beans in early autumn but always insist on coming up and flowering too early. Next year try covering them with very thick mulch to keep the soil cool so they come up later.
15 Jan 10 (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Can I plant scarlet runner plants now , I live in hobart , tas
22 Jan 10 Gladys Cutajar (Australia - temperate climate)
Can anyone tell me how to freeze beans properly. Mine seem to be really soggy when I cook them. I don't blanch them and cook in only a small amount of water.
15 Feb 10 David Rickertt (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Can someone tell what gaudia beans like in the way of water & fertiziler i am growing them but don't know a lot about them david R

Post a comment or tip about Climbing beans


Where are you?



All comments are reviewed before displaying on the site, so your posting may not appear immediately

See planting calendar for these countries and climate zones

Australia - cool/mountain,   Australia - sub-tropical,   Australia - temperate,   Australia - tropical,   New Zealand - cool/mountain,   New Zealand - sub-tropical,   New Zealand - temperate,   United Kingdom - temperate/cool,   United Kingdom - temperate/warm  

Home | Vegetables and herbs to plant | Climate zones | About Gardenate | Contact us

This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.

Site design and development by Hutchinson Software