[Gandan57]

Final picking today, so that`s 111 days, next year the challenge is a 120 day harvest. 

shokkyy - I used around 1.25 kilos of seed and made five sowings between 31st March and 1st July. As each seed weighs approximately 1.7 grams that`s roughly 750 seeds. The row was originally 24 feet but it had to be extended to 32 feet long, and each sowing was planted in a portion of the row. 

The first sowing was in carrier bags in large pots and tubs in the conservatory and the plants had four foot high mini wigwams to climb up until they were planted in the row in mid May. Early potatoes were grown in part of the row to maximise space, so once the first sowing were transplanted, more seeds were planted in the pots to be planted out when the spuds had been dug.   

     
Photo taken 1st June showing first two sowings in 16 feet of the row.       

     
This photo and the two below were taken mid June and show the third sowing in bags in tubs being planted out after the potatoes. The carriers were cut half way down around, placed in position and the two sides pulled away to leave the plants in situ.   

         

[sunshineband]

Wow! That is some dedication to the runner bean 

I don;t think I could emulate this, but it has been  very interesting thank you 

[mumofstig]

Well done, I must admit to planting some and at the same time sowing some for later, but I'm sure I've never managed such a long season.

I'll have to try harder 

[Gandan57]

Thanks for those comments.

This is the first year I`ve made a determined effort to prolong the season. 

Now I`m busy saving seed for next year as the first sowing is pencilled in for mid March, less than five months away!

[sunshineband]

Thanks for those comments.

This is the first year I`ve made a determined effort to prolong the season. 

Now I`m busy saving seed for next year as the first sowing is pencilled in for mid March, less than five months away!

 

[shokkyy]

Oh good grief, no wonder you were picking so many

Much as I like runner beans, if I did that many I wouldn't have space for peas or mangetout, and I like those too. The most I could manage is about a 15' row, I should think. I'll have to try staggering the sowings a bit more than I did last year though. I only did 3 sowings about a couple of weeks apart.  The first lot didn't get sown until the second week in April and were planted out just under 3 weeks later.

How on earth did you find a piece of wood long enough to do the single supporting brace along the row? And it looks like you were planting them out in clumps rather than sticking a couple against each cane. Approx how many did you have on each cane?

[sarajane]

Wow, very impressive.  That is what I call commitment to the humble runner bean.

I have never even thought to do more than one sowing.  I too only grow a 15 foot row but will try to do 2 sowings next year if that is the result.  Mine finished weeks ago.

[Gandan57]

The row runs north south to reduce shading, but this meant it would catch the full force of the westerly winds, so I didn`t want it to blow over. The half round rail is in eight foot lengths screwed to the tops of 5`6" stakes, and this framework will stay in place permanently. The rails were originally 12 feet long but I had to saw off four feet to get them in the car!

To this frame are lashed 8 feet long Gardman green plastic covered metal rods every four feet of the row, infilled with 8 feet canes every 12 inches with horizontal canes tied to the tops of the rods and canes. I decided on this design before I joined this forum and found out about the Munty frame.

There may have been twenty plants in each pot and six to eight plants may have had to share each cane or rod. In the end this overcrowding probably reduced yield per plant and next year I`m going to try and reduce the amount of seed, but when the seed is free that goes against the grain somewhat.

[shokkyy]

You've inspired me now

I didn't have a good crop this year at all, which I think was mostly the foul weather but also that they had too much shade from a horse chestnut (which has now been cut back) and that the soil in the bed needed some improving. But I was limiting myself to 2 plants per cane, and your experiment does seem to demonstrate that I can get away with throwing in loads more plants than that, so I will

Trouble is, a lot of runner beans seem to be sold in packets of about 30 to 40, which works out kind of expensive if you want to do more than one packet's worth.

[mumofstig]

. But I was limiting myself to 2 plants per cane, and your experiment does seem to demonstrate that I can get away with throwing in loads more plants than that, so I will

You'd need good soil & compost to grow them close together like Gandan 

[shokkyy]

You'd need good soil & compost to grow them close together like Gandan 

Well, having been disappointed by my returns this year, I'm about to hit that veggie bed with every weapon at my disposal - compost, leaf mould, chicken manure pellets, seaweed meal and rock dust. Maybe I'll even manage a trench, if I can get deep enough into the bed (new bed this year and was initially so compacted that I really struggled to dig into it).

[mumofstig]

a sound plan, if ever there was one 

[Gandan57]

Have you never thought of saving your own seed shokkyy? If you have an allotment you could ask other plotholders if they have any surplus runner bean pods that are drying on the plants now.

I had no plot until late summer last year and most of this year`s seed came from our site`s communal compost heap twelve months ago.

There are hundreds of pods on my row that weren`t picked when young and these are now drying to produce next year`s seed, but there will be far more than I need so if you`re passing anytime you can have some.

[shokkyy]

Have you never thought of saving your own seed shokkyy? If you have an allotment you could ask other plotholders if they have any surplus runner bean pods that are drying on the plants now.

I had no plot until late summer last year and most of this year`s seed came from our site`s communal compost heap twelve months ago.

There are hundreds of pods on my row that weren`t picked when young and these are now drying to produce next year`s seed, but there will be far more than I need so if you`re passing anytime you can have some.

Yes, I have thought of it. Trouble is, when you're not getting that big a crop you can't really afford to sacrifice a portion of it for next year's seed.

I don't have an allotment, just a big garden (half an acre), which I keep sneaking more and more veggie beds into The bed I used for beans and peas this year is a 17 X 17 foot square, half of which was recently lawn and hence very compacted and difficult to dig. I did put a couple of inches of imported topsoil on top which I forked in as best I could, as well as plenty of BFB, but it was obvious the soil wasn't good because I kept finding toadstools growing in there but not many of the usual weeds, i.e. low nutrition and poor drainage. I only did a 7 foot row of runners, but next year I'm going to extend that to the full length of the bed because until I tasted them I'd forgotten how much I used to like runner beans. The plants seemed healthy enough but were late and didn't give a very big crop at all. I am going to do as much as I can to improve the soil as well, so hopefully next year's crop will be much bigger.

It's very kind of you to offer the seed and I'd love to take you up on that, but sadly I never get down to your area.