Growing Beans - climbing, also Pole beans, Runner beans, Scarlet Runners

Phaseolus vulgaris, Phaseolus coccineus : Fabaceae / the pea or legume family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
        P              

(Best months for growing Beans - climbing in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. 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. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 10 - 20 cm apart
  • Harvest in 9-11 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Sweetcorn, spinach, lettuce, summer savory, dill, carrots, brassicas, beets, radish, strawberry, cucumbers, zucchini, tagates minuta (wild marigold)
  • Avoid growing close to: Alliums (Chives, leek, garlic, onions), Florence fennel
  • A few young Scarlet Runners
  • Purple climbing beans

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 Beans - climbing

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

Your comments and tips

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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.
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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...
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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
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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?
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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.
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23 Apr 16, Vivienne (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
The answer for pod set on scarlet runners is to use a fine mist of water on the flowers in the early morning or evening. This works a treat and you will end up with a glut.
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15 Jan 10, (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Can I plant scarlet runner plants now , I live in hobart , tas
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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.
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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
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02 Apr 10, Lynne Brogan (Australia - temperate climate)
Scarlet Runner beans are perennial (3 to 4 years but loosing vigour each year). Do I let them die back or cut them back after they have finished bearing, and if I cut them back,how close to the ground do I cut them. back to ground level
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There are two main things to think about when practicing crop rotation. The first; what condition (nutrition, minerals, tilth) will this crop leave the soil in. In this case your current crop is beans -- they fix their own nitrogen, so their roots will be full of nitrogen nodules (little white bubbles) and provided you just turn the roots into the ground -- the nitrogen will be available for the next crop. So your next crop CAN BE a heavy nitrogen feeder -- there should be lots of nitrogen there. Also beans do a surprisingly good job at breaking up the soil...maybe breaking up is too strong a word -- beans leave the soil very light and well blended with good aeration. Beans are not heavy feeders and therefore you don't need to worry about them depleting the soil of anything in particular, a basic application of manure should restore things. -- The Second concern of crop rotation is ; pests -- what pests did the beans attract ? Generally beans attract slugs and the sort of insects that feed on tender leaves (as young beans have very nice tender leaves) -- so ideally you want to plant something that these insects/slugs don't feed on -- something like tomatoes (their leaves are not suitable -- or tend not to be suitable for slugs). Then review what you would like to plant -- and determine the plant that best suits the conditions. Nightshades tend to be the most typical choice to follow beans -- Nightshade is a family of plants that includes tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, and peppers. Since you are probably already set up with poles - I might go for indeterminate tomatoes (which are really vines and require support).

- Celeste Archer

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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.
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