Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Weston grower on June 06, 2011, 09:35
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I've planted some climbing French beans in a tub. They are now happily growing up some pea sticks - about 5 feet high. My question is:
When they get to the top of the sticks - if I pinch out the growing tips will they bush out? If I leave them to grow they are going to get into a tangled mess.
My assumtion is that if I stop them growing upwards they will put their efforts into more side shoots and beans?
Regards, WG :)
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My gut feeling is they will not but this is only based on my efforts last year to encourage one or two to wrap round their cane - in doing so I managed to snap off the tip on two of them and they died. Others with more experience might be able to confirm/deny this.
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These plants tend to only produce climbing runners. When/if they do produce stems lower down in response to losing a growing tips, that runner will also keep on going up the pole again.
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If you pinch them out you will indeed get more shoots and flowers lower down IMO, but you will also end up with even more congestion a the top, which is where they all eventually end up :D
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My Climbing Beans finish before the season is over (unlike Runners that carry on ... and on ... !)
So i think its wroth sowing a bean (about now) at the base of each cane to follow-on from the plants that are running up the pole.
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Thanks all.
Think I'll just wait and see what happens.
WG :)