I sowed 20 Runner Bean seeds - ones I saved from last year's crop. The variety is "Scarlet Emperor", an old-fashioned but highly dependable one that produces big pods with that real Runner Bean flavour, unlike many of the more refined modern varieties!
I also sowed 10 seeds of Borlotti "Lingua di Fuoco" and climbing French Beans "Cobra", but those ones haven't germinated yet.
So, with Runner beans germinating, it was obviously time to get their poles put up. As normal, I will be using 9-foot Hazel rods - seven pairs, with an extra pole across the top to give the structure some rigidity.
The sturdy poles have been used for three years already and they still seem sound. They are so much better than bamboo canes! The bean plants find their rough surface much easier to grip.
The poles originally came to me as a gift from my local council's Countryside Department and are sourced from local and sustainable woodland - not imported from the Far East as bamboo would be.
The erection of my beanpoles is always appreciated by my local bird population. Within minutes of them going up, a male Blackbird was sitting on the crossbar, loudly proclaiming that henceforward this would be HIS perch!
My French beans haven’t germinated yet, second sowing. Only one runner bean but two from the second sowing. They were new seeds last year as well.
ReplyDeleteGosh, that sounds like a bad result! I would have thought beans from last year would be fine. But having said that, I had a complete washout last year, from a new pack of Parsnip seeds.
DeleteHello, I really enjoyed reading your article about growing beans, I found it very helpful. Thank you, Richard
ReplyDeleteGood idea where to get poles from! Our beans are doing well this year. Last year we had poor seed germination so went all fresh and standard varieties this year.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark,living a lot further north I'm waiting until next week to sow my runners and other pole beans.Interesting that you are sowing 10 in a large pot rather than in small single pots or modules.I'm starting to move back to large trays/pots as I struggle with the watering regime for anything smaller and the resulting plug plants seem disappointing.
ReplyDeleteThe method I use minimises faffing-about with little pots, and the Beans are strong enough to be unfazed by the inevitable root-disturbance when separating them.
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