At a school fete recently, I was given some left-over 'teeny beanie' runner bean plants, very healthy and about 8" tall. I've no idea who grew them, but there was a label attached which said, 'Miniature bean plants. Plant about 4" apart. No need for staking.' They're growing well but have so far reached a height of 18" and are clearly in need of some support. Now I'm thinking the grower may have misunderstood the word 'miniature', since the only information I can find on 'the net' is T&M's own site which refers to the miniature size of the beans (as opposed to the plants themselves). If anyone has grown these, could you please tell me their actual height? because looking at them now, I think they're going to need full sized (6' or 8') canes and some fine meshed netting.
They could be dwarf runner beans, if so, they have reached their optimum height and shouldn`t need support. Are they flowering yet?
Not got personal experience as i prefer french beans to runners, but i found this http://kitchengarden.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1679 So you are not alone.
Thanks for the replies and the link (as you say, I'm clearly not alone) There's no sign of any flowers yet, just longer and longer (and longer, and longer!) leaders. Since they were a 'gift' so to speak, I've decided to pinch the tops out of half of them and see what happens. The other half I'm going to allow to keep on growing and well, see if there really is a giant living above the clouds. :hehe:
Pinching the tops out will make them grow new climbing tendrils from the base, in which case you could extend the cropping season, so could be a smart move. If you got two stories, you could pick out of the bedroom window.
