Runner beans are super tasty and healthy. If you want to pick them from your own garden, find out all you need to know about growing them.
Runner beans are part of the legume family, but are sometimes overlooked by UK gardeners in favour of French beans. But they are really good for your health.
They are a source of fibre, protein and vitamins, so they are a good addition to your diet. You can use them like you would use French beans.
On top of that, their beautiful red flowers will add a splash of colour to your garden that will delight your eyes.
If you are now interested in growing them yourself, read on to find out the answers to all you need to know about growing runner beans in the UK.
Is It Easy Growing Runner Beans In The UK?
Yes, it is. The main thing to remember with runner beans is that they need to be supported. They will be growing quite high and without the right support, they can easily collapse, which could reduce your yield.
Apart from that, they aren’t that fussy, as long as you water them regularly.
When Do You Sow Runner Beans In The UK?
You have two options: you can start them indoors or sow them straight in the beds outside. Which one you choose will decide when you start sowing.
Let’s first talk about starting them off indoors. In the UK, you can sow them in small pots or roottrainers from mid-April or early May. Keep them indoors on a sunny windowsill, a greenhouse/polytunnel, or a propagator.
Once the risk of frost has passed, you can plant them out. But make sure you harden them off first.
If you want to sow them outdoors, you have to wait until the risk of frost has passed. Generally speaking, this is in mid-May or early June, depending on where in the country you live.
How Do You Care For Runner Beans?
Runner beans are thirsty plants, so it’s vital that you water them regularly, especially during hot and dry periods.
Watering becomes even more important once the plants have started to flower and produce pods. Mulching around the plants will help to keep the soil moist for longer, with the additional benefit of releasing nutrients into the soil.
Feeding, on the other hand, is only necessary if you grow them in a container. Especially if you have prepared the ground well.
The main care runner beans need is support. While there are some dwarf varieties, most of them are climbers. This means they will grow upwards. If they don’t have the right support, they will collapse.
There are different ways to provide support, which we discuss in the next question. Whichever method you decide to use, what’s important is that you tie the stems to the support as the plant grows.
This will ensure that the runner bean plant grows the way you want it to, giving it optimal support.
Once your bean plant has reached the top of the support, cut off the tops, like you would with tomato plants. This will stop the plant from growing up, and instead focus on growing flowers and pods further down.
Not only will this make it easier to reach the pods, but it also prevents the plant from being top-heavy.
And that’s it, that’s all you have to do to care for runner beans.
Find out more in our guide about how to grow runner beans.
What’s The Best Location For Runner Beans In The UK?
Ideally, you want a sunny spot that is also sheltered from wind. As runner beans tend to be climbing plants, unless you go for a dwarf variety, wind is their enemy.
Even if you support them well, you don’t want to risk them getting damaged in heavy wind.
What Are The Best Ways To Support Runner Beans?
We have already said that there are several ways to support runner bean plants. Which one is the best? Well, this depends on how much space you have and also on how many plants you are growing.
For us, if you grow several plants, the what we call “football goal” frame, is the best. It’s a frame that we found on the Allotment Garden Forum.
You basically build a structure that looks like a football goal, but instead of netting you use bamboo canes. The plants are planted at the back of the frame and the stems are trained up along the canes.
The beauty of this frame is that as the stems grow along the top, the pods will hang down. This makes it very easy to harvest them.
Another popular method for several runner plants is the wire method. You basically build something that looks like a fence. At either end you put strong stakes. Between them you stick a row of poles, which you connect with a strong wire mesh, which is attached to the stakes.
The plants then grow up the wire. The good thing about this frame is that you can easily make it as long as you need it to be.
A variation of this frame is to use strong netting between two poles. The plants grow up the netting.
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If you only have enough space to grow one runner bean plant, these support frames are probably overkill. You might want to try the wigwam frame instead.
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We use this for our cucumber plants, but it works just as well for runner bean plants. All you need is six long bamboo canes. How long they are is up to you. But remember, you will have to be able to reach the top to cut the plants to stop them from growing taller.
Push the poles in a circle into the soil and tie them together at the top. It should look like a wigwam tent, hence the name. The runner bean plant is then planted in the middle of the circle.
Well, personally, I would recommend planting the plant first. You then attach the stems to the canes as they grow.
When Can You Harvest Runner Beans In The UK?
This will depend on the variety and when you have sown your runner bean seeds. Your seed packet will tell you when you can expect to harvest your runner beans.
However, generally, runner beans are harvested during mid-summer in the UK.
You want to make sure that you harvest the pods when they are still young. When they are about 20cm, maybe 25cm (8in to 10in) long, is the right time to harvest them.
At this stage, they can easily be snapped and the beans inside are a pale colour and small. Not only will the pods still be tender and stringless, so much nicer and tastier, but more importantly, by harvesting when the pods are young, the plant will continue to grow new pods.
Once you leave a pod to grow to maturity, that’s it. The plant will stop flowering and with that producing new pods.
So it’s vital that you’re on it with harvesting. I go out every other day to harvest young pods, even if I only pick off a handful each time.
If you keep on top of harvesting, you can enjoy tasty homegrown runner beans for at least eight weeks. Who would have thought growing runner beans in the UK could give you healthy beans for such a long period?
Which Are The Best Runner Bean Varieties To Grow In The UK?
One of the best things about growing your own veggies from seed is that you have a wide choice of different varieties. Many of which you would never see on a supermarket shelf.
Here are the ones we would recommend you try in your garden.
Black Knight Runner Bean – What has attracted me to this climbing variety is the colour of the pods. As they ripen they turn dark purple, which looks great in your garden. But it’s not just looks, the pods are also tender and taste great.
Lady Di Runner Bean – This very popular variety is also a climber, and what UK gardeners like about it most is that it’s completely stringless. It’s also a great variety for freezing, so you can enjoy homegrown beans into autumn and winter. That’s good news, because the Lady Di is a heavy cropper.
Prizewinner Runner Bean – This is a great variety for newbie vegetable growers, because the pods grow in clusters, making it really easy to harvest them. And of course, they are tasty too.
Hestia Runner Bean – A dwarf variety that is ideal to be grown in pots or for small gardens or balconies. It produces long, tasty pods, and because it’s a dwarf variety it will crop earlier than its climbing cousins.
What Diseases Could Runner Beans In The UK Suffer From?
The good news is that there aren’t too many diseases that might befall your runner bean plants. Another reason why growing runner beans in the UK is so easy.
There are really only two diseases you should be aware of:
- Halo blight/early blight – a bacterial disease that affects young plants and comes from infected seeds
- Runner and French bean rust – a fungal disease that thrives in warm and humid conditions
As the first one comes from infected seeds, there isn’t much you can do. If you notice the leaves of your young plants to turn brown with a yellow edge (the halo), your plant is probably infected.
There isn’t anything you can do other than removing it and sowing a new one. What’s important is that you don’t use the same seed packet as it’s likely that all the other seeds are also affected.
That’s why it’s so important to buy from a reputable seed seller, such as Suttons or Thompson and Morgan, as we recommend.
Seeds might also come infected with this bacterial disease over time. So refrain from sowing seeds that have passed their sow-by date.
Runner and French bean rust will most likely occur late in the growing season, so most of the time it won’t affect your yield much. However, in a warm and wet summer, it might strike earlier.
If you notice white spots on the leaves of your runner bean plants, the fungal disease has taken hold. Remove any affected leave immediately. If it’s a bad infection, the leaves will turn brown and you want to remove the plant.
Don’t be tempted to compost it though, as the disease will survive and could affect future plants.
Once the cropping season has finished, make sure you remove the whole plant and any debris to prevent the fungus from overwintering in the soil. Crop rotation is also important to keep any disease from building up in a specific bed.
Finally, don’t save any seeds from an infected plant, as it could infect the seed.
To prevent this fungal disease, make sure you space out your plants well to provide good air circulation. This will help the leaves to dry quickly after rain, reducing the risk of the fungus to take hold.
What Pests Can Affect Runner Beans In The UK?
There are really only two pests you want to keep an eye on:
- Black bean aphid or blackfly – Aphids are one of the most common pests and you should tolerate them whenever possible
- Slugs and snails – Another common pest, which is mostly a problem for young plants
When you think of pests, remember that they are part of your garden’s ecosystem. As such, you should tolerate them whenever possible.
Small numbers are unlikely to do your runner beans any harm or reduce your yield. The best way to protect your vegetable plants from any pest is to ensure their predators are also in your garden.
They will then keep the numbers under control, so you don’t need to worry about them. So make sure you encourage beneficial insects to your garden.
A garden that buzzes with life will also attract bigger animals that will eat pests like slugs and snails, including blackbirds, thrushes, hedgehogs, frogs, toads, and rove beetles.
If you do find yourself with an aphid infestation on your runner bean plants, you can wash them away with this natural liquid soap.
- Pure organic cold pressed neem oil concentrate unrefined one 1000ml bottle
- Gentle biodegradable liquid soap derived from plant oils one 1000ml bottle
- Combine together with water to form a neem spray or drench
And you can protect your young runner bean plants from hungry slugs and snails by starting them indoors. So when you plant them outside, they will be strong enough to endure being nibbled at a bit.
You can also put copper rings around the plants, which will repell the slugs and snails. They don’t like the way the copper reacts with their mucus.
- Protect your plants from slugs and snail by placing these best selling Copper Slug Rings around them. This pack contains 6 x LARGE Copper Slug Rings (17cm / 7″ in diameter)
- These solid Copper Slug and Snail Rings will last for many years and are simply placed around the plant where they form a barrier which slugs and snails will not cross. Slugs and snails hate copper because of reaction between their mucus and the copper.
- When the slugs and snails come into contact with the ring they are repelled and will crawl away. They are easy to use as a spring clip allows you to open the ring. Slip it around the stem and then press lightly into the soil. If you have larger plants, just link them together to make a bigger ring.
This is a very simple and easy method to protect your plants from these slimy creatures without hurting them. So they can continue to be a vital part of your garden’s ecosystem.
How Do You Store Homegrown Runner Beans?
Like most beans, runner beans don’t store particularly long. In the fridge, they will last for a few days. That’s alright if you eat them regularly.
But if you have a glut, or just more than you can eat, you might not be able to keep up eating them fresh. The good news is, runner beans can easily be frozen.
Cut off both ends and remove any strings. You can leave them whole or chop them into bite-sized lengths, whatever you prefer. Then blanch them in boiling water for two minutes.
Drain them well and let them cool down. Then put them in a freezer bag and stick them in your freezer, where they will keep for a few months. To cook them, just add them to sauces or stir-fries from frozen. Or you can steam them for a few minutes to enjoy the pure taste of homegrown runner beans.
Another idea to keep your beans for longer is to pickle them. Pickled beans are easy to make and can last for months in a cupboard. You can add them to salads, as an extra side with meat or fish, or add them to a sandwich.
Why Didn’t My Runner Bean Seeds Germinate?
The most likely reason for this is that it’s too cold. Runner bean seeds need a soil temperature of at least 10°C, so make sure that your soil has a temperature of around 15°C before sowing your seeds. Otherwise they will rot rather than germinate.
You can use a soil thermometer to check if the soil is warm enough for your runner bean seeds.
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Also make sure that you keep the soil damp, as seeds need warmth and moisture to germinate. But don’t overwater them as this will also cause them to rot.
Why Aren’t My Runner Bean Flowers Turning Into Bean Pods?
If you grow runner beans and don’t get any crops, it can be frustrating.
First of all, let me tell you that even under perfect conditions, not all flowers will turn into bean pods. Sometimes as much as half of the flowers won’t set pods. There are several reasons why pods don’t set:
- The plants don’t have enough water
- The soil is too acidic. Flowers set better in more alkaline, chalky soil
- Hot weather, especially during the night stops the pollen from germinating and producing pods
- Low rates of harvesting can cause seeds to develop in the pods, which will stop the plant from producing further pods
- Lack of pollination
- Birds, picking at the flowers and making it harder for insects to pollinate them
If hardly any of the flowers turn into pods, then try the following:
- Ensure that the soil has plenty of nutrients
- Make sure you don’t let the soil dry out and water your runner beans well and regularly, ideally in the evening. You can use mulch (such as leaf mould) to keep the soil from drying out too quickly. And a layer of mulch can also suppress weeds
- If your soil is too acidic, you can use garden lime to lower the pH of the soil before planting your seeds or seedlings. I have used Westland Garden Lime before and was happy with it. If you don’t know what pH level your soil has, you can just get a pH soil testing kit. You can also get your soil tested professionally. Find out why soil testing is important in our article about soil testing
- Use garden lime to bring the soil in your garden to a more optimum pH level improving soil structure and plant root efficiency
- This ready to use product provides an immediate change to the pH level of your soil once worked in
- Monitor your soil pH throughout the growing season to ensure an ideal level is maintained
- Quick, at home results for Soil pH, Nitrogen, Phosphrous and Potash
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- Use a bean variety that has French bean parentage, as they set pods more easily in warm weather, such as Firestorm or Moonlight
- Harvest every two to three days to ensure your plant continues cropping. Once the pods start to swell they set seeds, which will then signal to the plant to stop producing more pods
- Runner beans need pollination to grow pods. Make sure you choose a sheltered location to encourage bees and other insects to pollinate your runner bean flowers. A cold, wet and windy summer can also prevent insects from visiting your plants
- If birds, such as the house sparrow, attack the flowers of your runner beans, consider planting a variety with a different colour flower. You can also grow dwarf runner beans as you can put protective nets over them to discourage birds
Can I Grow Runner Beans In Containers Or Pots?
The simple answer is yes, you can grow runner beans in containers. Runner beans are perfect for growing in containers if you don’t have much space or if you want them as a feature on your patio or balcony. Because not only are their fruits delicious and super healthy, their flowers also look gorgeous.
First, you need to make sure you choose the right container or pot for your runner bean. You need large, deep containers to have enough space for the plants as well as their support canes.
There are varieties that can be grown in smaller pots, such as round podded haricot beans or bush varieties such as Hestia Runner Beans, Haricot or French Beans. Avoid growing bags though as they tend to be too small, which can make it difficult to keep your plants well watered.
Whatever size pot or container you are using, make sure it has several drainage holes in the bottom to avoid overwatering.
You can sow more than one plant in a pot, depending on how big it is. Generally, you can sow around nine plants per 12 inch (30cm) of soil surface. Make sure you don’t plant too many plants in one pot to prevent them from competing for nutrients and water.
Runner beans need a support structure which they can climb. In containers or pots the most suitable is a wigwam of canes or poles. Use six or seven canes and insert them in a circle around the edges of the pot. Then tie them together on the top. Your runner beans will then grow up this tent-like structure.
Place your container in a sheltered, sunny location, out of the wind. Otherwise, once the plants have fully grown, they might be blown over by the wind.
Water your runner beans regularly to avoid the soil from drying out.
Do You Need To Soak Runner Bean Seeds Before Planting?
You don’t have to, but soaking seeds before sowing them can decrease the germination time. Soaking the seeds will imitate the conditions in an animal’s stomach and prepare them to germinate.
So if you are in a hurry to grow runner beans and want your runner bean seeds to germinate quicker, put them in a bowl and cover with warm water. Leave them to soak overnight, but no more than 24 hours or they might start to rot. By the morning the seeds should have swollen up.
Plant them straight away and expect them to quickly germinate.
So here you have it, all your questions about growing runner beans in the UK answered. You are now ready to grow your own tasty runner beans. If you are still unsure, head to our guide about how to grow runner beans to get all the details you need.
