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 61°F and 86°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 4 - 8 inches 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

Your comments and tips

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05 Feb 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Maybe time to cover with some bird netting. Make a frame and cover with bird netting. Easy to lift on and off. Or try some wire netting with shade cloth over the top. Like an inverted U. I'm about to do this for dwarf beans - to stop the bean fly in Autumn.
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07 Feb 18, Dale (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Thanks Mike for your tips. Can you cover climbing beans using inverted U method? Also, do the bees need to pollinate bean flowers? I am interested in making the cover for dwarf beans,so can you explain a little more on how to make cover.(as I am not very good with making things).Blessings to you and thank you for the handy ideas.
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13 Feb 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
To make a U cover (better description is an n shape) for climbing beans would be quite a job and probably expensive if you don't have the materials around the yard now. We had climbing bean at the Men's Shed over 8' tall. Beans don't need bees. For dwarf beans you could go to Bunnings and buy a roll of wire netting (dog mesh or similar) - I think they do 5 M rolls. 1200mm or 1500 mm high would be better. Make a shape like a small n - 1200 mm 400 up each side and 400 across the top. With the 1500 mm 500 up each side and 500 across the top. Cover with 50 or 70% shade cloth - ($5/mtr Bunnings). Shade cloth is 1800mm wide - so put that over the top and lay some wood posts or what ever along the cloth on the ground - also put a piece of tin or wood on the end to stop them going in that way. My plants are growing pretty good - will be interesting to see if they flower soon. My tunnel is a little small.
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17 Jun 18, Jane (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Mike thanks for pointing out that beans don't need bees. I'm a fairly inexperienced gardener - try and try again, this time I seem to be a little more successful - and what I have found (in my previous attempts at vegue growing) is that just as I think I'm home and hosed, something happens: grasshoppers turn up - party time - something gets my tomatoes, tomatoes get what I have learned us blossom rot, leaves turn yellow - and so on= kaput! I also am never sure as to whether I am giving too little or too much water. At times the soil on top looks well-watered but if I check I find the soil is not so moist underneath. Any advise/suggestions appreciated.
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03 Mar 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I took the tunnel and shade cloth off about 2 weeks ago as the plants were a little spindly. The have grown well and are now flowering. The bean fly hasn't attacked them -- yet ???. When I plant beans now (seedlings - March) they are always attacked by bean fly.
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16 Jan 18, Colleen Middleton (New Zealand - temperate climate)
How many years will runner beans regrow for, before having to replant them? I am having a very good yield in their second season...they did take a long time to sprout initially ...possibly due to a cooler than usual early to mid spring.
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07 Jan 18, Maurice (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Bumblebees nipping off scarlet runner bean flowers. One writer suggested sugar syrup what quantities and how often do you spray them. Otherwise any other suggestions would be appreciated. .
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23 Nov 17, Faye (Australia - temperate climate)
Thank you, Mike, for replying to my query. We don't know anymore than they are called 'runner beans' in the supermarkets and fruit & veg shops in the UK. We will be there again next year and I will endeavour to find out more. Regards Faye
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11 Jan 18, Janet stevens (Australia - temperate climate)
I am gardening in west Australia south of Perth, planted runner beans, as I do in uk, scarlet emperor, came up climbed the poles produced plenty of flowers(more than in the uk) and I have just picked the two beans produced after regularly watering and the tending them lovingly. I think the problem is the flowers were never pollinated, never seen a bee here, and with the excessive wind here the flowers just blew off! What do you think?
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23 Nov 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Ask the supermarket or F&V shop owners what variety they are and then check the seed selling companies. Or take a photo of them and compare to beans on the net.
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Showing 121 - 130 of 268 comments
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Each different area of Australia has its particular requirements to be successful. This info is generalized for growing veggies. 1. All day direct sun is best - things just don't grow without it. 2. Good soil and replenish with compost or manures etc. each year. Give your soil a break from crops for a few months each year and add the compost and work it in. Dig it over a few times. 3 Regular watering - small plants - light, regular watering - bigger plants - fewer waterings but more volume of water. Then you need to know which plants to plant each season. I plant beans in April and the bean fly kills the young plants. I planted about 2 1/2 mths ago and have great plants now - just starting to pick them now. I have trouble with Zucchini and Capsicums some times of the year. Capsicums need a certain temperature to pollinate I recently read. I have trouble with my Zucchinis - no bees to pollinate. I am doing it by hand at the moment. Next year I'm going to plant some flowers in my other gardens to attract the bees. I explained in a post the other day to go to The Seed Collection website and print off the Sowing Chart. It is a guide for different climates. Go on the internet and type in "How to grow ------" and read up about it. Look for Australian websites. Gardening Australia etc. Look up seed selling companies and read about how and when to grow different veggies. I'm going on a holiday tomorrow for 2 weeks - will have my computer with me. Email me if you like. naish@iinet.net.au. When I come home we can talk on the phone.

- Mike

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