[lordthanatos]

Heya.  Just stringing up new runner bean support. Pack says to plant at 30cm apart. However every other grower at the plot seems to have much denser spacings.

I know it can vary from one variety to another but wondering if missing out?

[mumofstig]

Mine poles are  a ft apart, but I plant 2 at each pole 

[JayG]

It's not so much the spacing at soil level which can restrict growth and/or make the beans difficult to pick but what happens when they grow to their usual 8' or so, which largely depends on what design of support you have provided.

Wigwams and the traditional inverted 'V' supports tend to get very congested near the top of the supports, whereas a 'Munty' frame, or 'X' shaped support gives each plant more room, with most of the beans hanging down nice and straight and easy to pick.
I usually have 10-12 plants growing up a 5' wide Munty frame.

Having said all that you very often see people planting quite densely even up wigwams or inverted 'V's - whether the increased yield fully compensates for the increased competition between plants and the greater difficulty in picking some of the beans is probably more a matter of opinion than actual fact! 

[Growster...]

JayG - 10 to 12 plants is just not enough!

We're planning thirty to start with and then another thirty a bit later on in four weeks time, so we have some succession!

I may well even  try another thirty if the weather looks reasonable, but runners in December don't really seem that nice, do they!

We grow up a vertical frame, (left by previous occupants, who studied The Forth Bridge), and  we also have a wigwam back at the house for a quick fix with ten plants, for when Mrs Growster has withdrawal pains..)

[m1ckz]

me too 12in apart an 1 bean each side of cane

[sunshineband]

I have poles twelve inches apart and plant two plants per pole as well.

 It will get a bit congested no doubt, but as long as I can find the beans it'll be fine. I have gone back to he traditional double row of poles leaning towards each other this year as our Munty frame came a-cropper last season and I fancied a change.

Enough space to be able to reach the beans that hang down on the inside before they turn into beany monsters, I hope!

[wapello]

My bean setup: 13 canes  8" apart that = 26 plants, then i have the same again but 24" apart but joined at the top so that = another 26 plants of two different  varieties, as soomn as i plant them out i will wait a month and just do a single row of canes for a later 26 plants, i think that will do the two of us,,,

[Offwego]

 16 sticks -one to a stick is quite enough for us, i also put some sweet peas one to a stick on the same row just to look good and also attract the pollenators
so that is one runner bean and one sweet pea to each stick, did this last year and we had more than enough beans,  and some nice cut flowers for home

[Headgardener22]

One thing to think about is how exposed your site is.

Our site is quite exposed and the first year I grew runner beans I put two per cane 1ft apart and the wind blew the structure down and broke all my canes. Since then I've only grown one plant per cane and it seems to have survived.

[Salmo]

I grow on a conventional structure with 8 hazel poles each side. Plant 2 beans per pole. I let one plant run up but pinch the runners out on the second one until the others are half way up. The pinched out plants produce earlier flowers and ensure that the bottom half is well covered. It may be better to pinch out plants on alternate poles, I might try that this year.

Why do I do it that way? I knew a commercial grower who used to grow part of his crop without poles, which he called ground beans ( as distinct from pole beans). As soon as the plants started to send out runners he would go along the rows with a hook and cut off all the runners. This was repeated every time runners sprung up. These plants would produce a very early crop as they flowered right at the bottom. They were a bit curly as they were near the ground but they fetched a good price. As soon as the conventional crop of pole beans came on stream he would plough the ground beans in and plant something else. I can still picture his gaggle ofl ladies walking along the rows with a bag and stick planting the seeds.

[Robster]

I do 2 beans per pole and poles about 10-12 inches apart.  When they get going i put a handful of growmore in the frame.  The real challenge is giving them enough water.

[Salmo]

One they get growing I put grass mowings down the middle. Acts as a mulch to keep the weeds down and retain moisture.

[sunshineband]

I grow on a conventional structure with 8 hazel poles each side. Plant 2 beans per pole. I let one plant run up but pinch the runners out on the second one until the others are half way up. The pinched out plants produce earlier flowers and ensure that the bottom half is well covered. It may be better to pinch out plants on alternate poles, I might try that this year.

I like the sound of that ... I shall have to make sure that I don't pinch out the same variety each pole.. I have three different ones and sometimes it is hard to tell which is which from the two reds until they flower. I shall have to mark those plants to be pinched out with a little white label when I plant them out. 

How many leaves up do you pinch out at please, Salmo?

[Salmo]

I grow on a conventional structure with 8 hazel poles each side. Plant 2 beans per pole. I let one plant run up but pinch the runners out on the second one until the others are half way up. The pinched out plants produce earlier flowers and ensure that the bottom half is well covered. It may be better to pinch out plants on alternate poles, I might try that this year.

I like the sound of that ... I shall have to make sure that I don't pinch out the same variety each pole.. I have three different ones and sometimes it is hard to tell which is which from the two reds until they flower. I shall have to mark those plants to be pinched out with a little white label when I plant them out. 

How many leaves up do you pinch out at please, Salmo?

When they start to extend upwards I nip the top. Usually one set of leaves, sometimes I get soft and leave two. They soon shoot out more growth.

I often see people planting beans out  with 3 ft long shoots and trying to twist them up the poles. Better to pinch these out so that the plants produce good strong shoots from the bottom.