runner beans help please

[tinkertontom]

please can anyone help my runner beans seem to be growing ok there are plenty of beans but the leaves are starting to turn yellow at the bottom of the plants ,is this natural or am I doing something wrong

[~posy-jo~]

sorry tinkertontom i can't help but i wanted to jump in your thread if that is ok. i have grown a runner bean plant for the first time this year, it is huge and has flowers on it but no beans. am i likely to get some? so if someone of runner bean knowledge answers this q please can u answer mine too. thanx xXx p.s sorry again for jumping in your thread tinkertontom but it seemed pointless writing a q when u have this one :-)

[tinkertontom]

your wellcome posy-jo ,all tips about growing beans will be of help to me too

[jake-the-peg]

Here's a page of photos of various defficiencies of beans
http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/min-def/beans.htm

Do any of these look like yours?

This page is about beans not setting pods
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0800/runn er_beans.asp

Hope these help

[-scrumpy-]

I'm not an expert, but I've grown runner beans for the past 4 years, so here's my suggestions!

tinkertontom: If there are plenty of beans, then that's the best sign. Make sure you pick them while they're young, and it will encourage the plant to produce more.

~posy-jo~ : If it has flowers on it and it looks healthy otherwise, then I would have thought it would have some beans in future. My plants have just started to get flowers, and I'm fairly confident of some nice beans soon!

hope this helps!

[~posy-jo~]

thanx jake. i still don't know when or if i'll get beans on it tho. but that site has some good care tips so i'll just have to wait and see!!!

good luck with yours too tinkertontom!! xXx

[~posy-jo~]

thanx scrumpy! i'll keep looking for beans hopefully they will grow soon!! xXx

[tinkertontom]

yeah thanks a lot jake very helpfull x

[tinkertontom]

sorry scrumpy you too ,and i hope yours get to have plenty of beans soon posy-jo

[Thunderbird+]

Hi Tinkertontom,
One bit of advice I would like to give, is to watch out for aphids, often hiding on the undersides of the leaves. these little blighters can carry the yellow mosaic virus,spray with a good aphid killer or if you cant get down to the shops right away, you can use a weak solution of washing up suds as a stop gap.

Hi Posy-jo,
I hope the bees will soon discover your bean flowers and do a good job of pollenating them, although there is one type of bee (cant remember the name) that only has a short proboscus and steals nectar from the back of the flower by making a small hole, rather than taking the usual route around the front and exchanging pollen, hope that type of bee keeps away. Good Luck Both. T bird+

[tinkertontom]

thanks thunderbird+ have just had a look and I have seen some of the ******* so I will give them a burst of bug killer that Ive got in the shed never thought to look before thanks for the tip

[Thunderbird+]

Its great when an act comes together!
Mr T bird+

[~posy-jo~]

thanx thunderbird xXx

[gastwo]

Nothing to do with beans - I just wondered why ABers cant be this polite and pleasant to each other on the rest of the topics...

[tinkertontom]

thanks gastwo nice of you to say so ,nice of you to drop in on this thread ,have a nice day ,woops I think I've gone a bit o t t now byeeee

[BriWrite]

Hi tinkertontom, just seen your posting about beans, its the only vegetable I grow. I find from time to time that the leaves do go a little yellow which has never been a problem, I tend to cut the really big leaves off anyway to concentrate the growth to the bean. I have always kept two things in mind with beans, 1. They dont like wind, so a sheltered place is best, wind tends to make the leaves dry out and curl up if its persistent and checks the growth a little, (I grow mine behind the garage). 2. You cant drown a runner bean, I water mine twice a day and get great crops every year. Dont forget to dig a bit of compost in the plot in autumn ready for next year. Good luck and happy eating.

[tinkertontom]

thanks briwrite we had beans on sunday first pick of the crop lovely and fresh ,I have got them growing along the garage wall but it is a bit windy there although they dont look none the worse for it