[rookie1]

Hi all
After the excitement of 3 runner bean seeds germinating a few days ago, they are now getting above their station and going all leggy ... They are on a south west facing window cill which has a venetian blind, which I keep down and adjusted to the seedlings aren't in very bright direct light. Is this the problem? Will they calm down and bush out? Any implications for planting out? At this rate, they'll be 2 feet tall by the end of May (at least) ...

[mumofstig]

well thats what climbing beans do - they climb, they don't 'bush out' much at all 

Obviously you sowed them too soon  If you have no greenhouse to grow them on in, then you'd be better starting again later in May - sorry!

[Yorkie]

I suspect that the blind isn't helping.  Give them full sunlight.

[JayG]

I can understand the logic that if plants are growing too fast it must be caused by too much light, but the truth is that pale and leggy plants are usually the result of insufficient light  (especially if they are also too warm - runner beans like warmth but given that windows filter out quite a lot of sunlight they need every bit of light you can give them.)

(DD is on holiday, but I'm sure he won't mind me mentioning that using aluminium foil behind the plants will increase the amount of reflected light they get from the window.) 

[rookie1]

Thanks for the advice - looks like I may have been a bit too keen to get going with my first foray into growing my own ..... all good experience, though.  Will wait a week or two and sow some more.  Will move these few into the conservatory and see what happens.