Runner beans

Hello all,
Is it too early to plant out my runner beans? They are doing very well in the little modules, or should I pot on? I've got some French beans out already. Are they supposed to be more hardy? I think the pack for the runners says late May or June to go out. Thanks, Liz.

 

I would pot on , the british weather is unpredictable ,as the current weather proves .

You will lose nothing by potting on ,where if the weather does change you could be caught out. :gaagh:

Do you have somewhere to put them to start hardening them off ,so at least in a few weeks they can go straight into the ground or pots, if the weather remains kind.

 

Im riding my luck, mine are in and are doing well.

Its been roasting hot in London. I have cloches, fleece and bits of old carpet ready in case of frost though.

 

In East Anglia we are fairly safe after mid-May. An old saying is "Fog in March, frost in May" , i.e. for every day with fog in March you can expect a day with frost in May.

But, we haven't had fog in March this year, so maybe we shall miss the frost.

 

You'll have to plant them, surely John? They'll be too long to handle in a couple of weeks time I reckon ?

 

I've planted mine out BUT I have sown back ups just in case LOL

 

My climbing beans haven't even germinated yet and I reckon to be planting out in about 3 or 4 weeks time. I don't grow runners, just climbing french, and when I do plant out I use 'cloches' made from plastic lemonade bottles for the first couple of weeks.
Down in Bristol you are about a month ahead of us, but I'd still be careful with them as frosts at this time of year are not unknown.

 

I spoke to one of my 'expert' chums down at the lottie and hes said too early to go out. there might be more frost and that will do for them - same every year but some take the risk and do really well and others lose all their plants

a tough decision

Loopy

 

I'm sowing my first french & runner beans over the next couple of days and consider that early.

Frost forecast for lots of areas later this week!

 

I always plant late to avoid the hassle / possibility of late frosts, but I think the smart approach would be to plant early, but also grow some backups. If the early ones get under way OK then you have an early crop, if not then backups can take over instead.

 

Don't know if this has been posted before, but just found this on the MET Office website, good historical mapped data illustrating likelihood of frost in each month based on past averages:

Met Office: Regional Climates

1. Click on your region on the little map
   
2. After pages reloads with your area highlighted click the text link 'View the regional mapped climate averages'
   
3. Choose ground frost from the menu on the left

Illustrates the microclimates within every region and the differences urban areas have on temperature nicely in my opinion!...doesn't tell you last frost date though! :D

 

Thank you all so much for the advice. I think I'll plant out on Friday but start some extras for back up.

Liz