Growing Food - Scarlet Runner Beans (Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What is the best fertilizer for scarlet runner beans? ›

Use 1 cup of complete organic fertilizer for every 3m (10′) of row. Too much nitrogen in fertilizer or manure may cause poor pod set and delayed maturity. If beans flower but do not set pods, the cause can be zinc deficiency. Try spraying the plants with kelp based fertilizer.

The edible flowers have a bean-like flavor and can be used in salads. The green pods are edible until they become fibrous and can be boiled, steamed, sautéed, or baked (but should be eaten raw only sparingly). Because they are tougher than many green beans, they are best sliced before cooking.

Scarlet runner bean seeds do not require any treatment (eg soaking, stratification) before sowing. Scarlet runner bean seeds grow best when they are sown directly into the garden. Sow seeds directly in the garden 25mm deep and 15cm apart, with rows 100cm apart. Keep soil moist but never wet or dry.

From the off, runner beans love moisture and, in many ways, keeping them warm and well-watered is key to growing them. However, if a sudden hot spell happens then cooling the plants down can help with pollination, so on hot days water well in the morning and sometimes in the evening too.

Feed runner beans with a general liquid fertiliser each time you water them, then switch to a tomato fertiliser once the first flowers start to form. Mix the tomato fertiliser at half the manufacturer's recommended rate.

Throughout the growing season you'll need to water your beans regularly, particularly as they start to develop flowers. A lack of moisture is one of the main reasons why runner bean flowers can fail to set pods. A liquid feed applied every 14 days will also help to maximise your crop.

The main causes of failure to set pods are:

Lack of moisture at the roots. Poor soil or growing conditions, such as acid soils below pH 6.5, pest or disease problems, frost damage, lack of nutrients or organic matter. Lack of pollinating insects, perhaps because of cold, wet or windy weather.

Most beans are garden annuals, but a few can be grown as perennials and will produce a prolific harvest each season. Perennial beans, like the Scarlet Runner Beans pictured here, are high in protein. They also have a superpower shared by all legumes; they can improve your soil's fertility by adding nitrogen.

To promote flowering you need to have potassium (potash) fertiliser to help initiate flowering. It sounds like your soil may be rich in nitrogen which will give you the healthy green growth which comes from adding nitrogen rich material such as compost, blood and bone, sheep pellets to the soil.

How do you speed up germination? ›

One easy way to make seeds germinate faster is to presoak them for 24 hours in a shallow container filled with hot tap water. Water will penetrate the seed coat and cause the embryos inside to plump up. Don't soak them for longer than 24 hours because they could rot. Plant the seeds immediately in moist soil.

Soil Preference

The Scarlet Runner Bean prefers a light, well-drained [loam], with lots of [organic matter]. It doesn't need a lot of nitrogen, but it should have good quantities of potassium, phosphorus and other nutrients.

Their ideal soil pH ranges from 6 to 7, which is somewhere in the middle of acidic and neutral. What soil do beans grow on? Growing beans is most productive in clay soil or silt loam soil. Slightly acidic loams rich in nutrients will do the best.

When your runner bean plants reach the tops of the canes, pinch out the growing tip of each one to encourage bushier growth. Beans are thirsty plants so water regularly, especially when in flower, and mulch the soil surface around the roots, to lock in moisture.

when to plant runner beans. Sow runner bean seeds from April onwards under cover. You can also sow direct into the garden in May-July once the soil has warmed up. Runner bean seedlings should not be planted out until the frosts are over.

Picking the Perfect Fertilizer for Your Runner Beans

A balanced ratio, often something like 10-10-10, is a solid starting point, but don't ignore the micronutrients; they're crucial supporting actors in your bean's growth story.

💡 Nutrient Know-How

Yellowing leaves often shout deficiency, and nitrogen, iron, or magnesium usually top the list of usual suspects. Nitrogen plays the favorite, often migrating to new growth and leaving older leaves yellowed and neglected.