Runner Beans awful this year?

The weather here, wet and overcast seems to have suited them. We have been picking a good crop, probably the best I've ever managed. Where are you and have you had similar weather?

 

I grow and sell runner beans (my favourite veg) and can echo the previous posts. Although it is recommended to rotate crops it also depends on your soil and practicalities of where you can grow them.

As they grow big so quickly they need well composted/manured soil and lots of water. It was not the best start to the season here because of dryness and heat as they don't like it too hot. A lot of people think that they like hot weather as they originate in in Central America (Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras etc.) but they only grow them in the mountains around 6,000ft up.

I have been growing my beans in the same spot for 50 years but the clay soil is very fertile and I add lots of home made compost every year.

The dry and hot weather we had earlier this year did not do the plants any favour and I was giving them a lot of water. As I grow so many I need to use a sprinkler for them and it needs to be on them for a long time because it gives a fine spray over a large area. They get four hours at a time. When watering them you need to give them a heavy watering two or three times a week rather than a light watering every day. This also encourages the roots to go deeper into the soil where the water is absorbed and it strengthens the plants.

I know we have had a lot of rain recently but, here, we haven't had any significant rain for well over a week. So yesterday I had to put the sprinkler on and it was on them for seven hours (forgot to turn it off ). I should have watered them sooner and I can notice a bit of dry stress (going knobbly) in some of the plants.

Hopefully, with plenty of water, they will improve. Pick off all the beans that have gone knobbly otherwise the plant may think it has reached the end of the season and is time to go to seed.

Always remember that they like well composted soil and plenty of water. The composting is better done in the Autumn.

 

I grow mine in the same space every year but try and swap the soil with adjacent beds to stop the buildup of pests and diseases. My soil is very hungry thin chalk so as well as incorporating home made compost in the winter I have to give them a weekly feed, something with high potash to encourage flowering. I make comfrey tea for that purpose but any tomato type fertiliser would do, such as seaweed extract. I have an automatic watering system, porous hosepipe on a timer connected to the mains, my soil dries out very quickly otherwise.
Once a bean crop is stressed by lack of water it will suffer for weeks.

 

Is that the same reason for my legs?

 

I've found it has greatly depended on the variety of seed I have used. Polestar (normally a good grower in all conditions) had poor germination (60%) and not produced very well. White Lady (another good one for most conditions) 70% germination and very slow to give beans and Firestorm which gave over 95% germination and has been the best producer this year. Firestorm is a runner that has been crossed with a French and produces pickable beans a week or two before the others, copes with a variety of weathers, still has the runner tall growing habit but doesn't produce as quite as long a bean.

All the varieties have grown to the usual 14ft or more (I train them horizontally once they have reached 7-8ft.

French beans have been more problematic this season. Blue Lake, normally an excellent grower, have been dire. No more than 30% germination and virtually no cropping. The few yellow ones we're trialling for Which? have been tasty but not worth growing according to the yield but may still use them again next year to give them another chance. Bridgewater are a great success with 100% germination, early cropping and very heavy. 14 plants are giving close to 2lb a day.

 

The quality of those porous pipes varies, I bought some cheaper stuff which was useless, one or two massive holes that I gaffer taped up and it kinked. I have more expensive stuff now which was a pain to install, had to pin it down as I unfurled. In the greenhouse it was a job that couldn't be done with tomatoes already planted as the pipe has a mind of its own and flips about. It does settle into position after a few hot sunny days - fat chance of seeing any of those for a while.