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How to grow Runner beans in the UK

Climbs higher than you - build a bean wigwam!

• DifficultyEasy peasy
• WhereBeds or Pots
• Grows to250cm
• Spacing20cm
• Time to first pickabout 12 weeks

When to sow, plant and harvest runner beans

Dates are for central England. Sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland, and up to two weeks earlier in the south and south west. Get the dates for your postcode.

Starting it indoors

1. Fill a small pot or tray with seed compost
2. Push the seeds in (5cm deep) - a couple per pot
3. Water gently, then put them on a bright windowsill
4. Keep the compost damp but not soggy - check it every day
5. When they have 2 proper leaves, give each seedling its own pot

Sowing it outdoors

1. Pull out any weeds and rake the top of your bed until it's crumbly, like cake crumbs
2. Make a little line in the soil (5cm deep) with your finger or a stick
3. Drop the seeds in, about 20cm apart in the row, with rows 60cm apart
4. Gently cover them with soil and pat it down
5. Water with a watering can that has a sprinkler head
6. Push in a label so you remember what's there

Planting it out

1. Toughen them up ('hardening off'): put them outside in the day for a week, bring them in at night
2. Dig a hole a bit bigger than the pot
3. Tip the plant out gently, holding the leaves, not the stem
4. Pop it in the hole, firm the soil around it, and water well
5. Space the plants about 20cm apart in the row, with rows 60cm apart

Top tips for growing runner beans

• Tie 6 tall canes together at the top to make a wigwam, one plant per cane.

Looking after runner beans

• Week 1: Help them start twisting round their canes - they climb anticlockwise
• Week 4: Water well every few days once the flowers appear

Soil and feeding

Any decent soil - they make their own food from the air!. Peas and beans take nitrogen from the air, so they don't need rich soil. Some compost in the planting trench helps hold water.

Pests and problems

• Slugs & snails: munch seedlings overnight, worst in wet weather
• Blackfly & greenfly: tiny bugs that crowd the tips and suck the sap

• Go on a slug hunt at dusk with a torch and move them far away
• Sink a jam jar into the soil with a little beer in it - slugs fall in
• Cut the bottom off a plastic bottle and pop it over each young plant, like a mini greenhouse

Harvesting and eating runner beans

Pick every couple of days when they're about 15-20cm long, before you can see bumps of beans.

How to eat them: Slice and boil for 3-4 minutes with butter.

Storing runner beans

Keeps about 5 days.

• Keep in a bag in the fridge

Freeze well: slice, blanch them (dip in boiling water for 2 minutes, then straight into icy water - ask a grown-up to help), dry and bag. Keeps 12 months.

Good varieties of runner beans

• Scarlet Emperor: Red flowers and long beans - the old favourite.
• Firestorm: Sets beans even in hot weather, no strings.
• White Lady: White flowers that birds leave alone.

Companion planting

Grows well with

• Butternut squash: beans feed the soil for the hungry squash
• Sweetcorn: 'three sisters': beans can climb up the corn
• Nasturtiums: nasturtiums lure blackfly away from the beans
• Calendula (pot marigold): brings hoverflies, whose babies eat blackfly
• Borage: bees for more beans
• Phacelia: brings bees for more beans
• Sunflowers: beans can climb the stems; bees visit both

Keep away from

• Onions: onions can stunt beans
• Garlic: garlic can stunt beans
• Leeks: leeks can stunt beans
• Spring onions: the onion family can stunt beans
• Chives: the onion family can stunt beans

Saving your own runner beans seed

Late summer, when the pods are dry and rattle.

1. Leave a few of the best pods on the plant - don't pick them
2. Wait until the pods turn brown and papery and you can hear the seeds rattle
3. Pick them on a dry day and pop the seeds out
4. Spread them on a plate indoors for 2 weeks to dry completely

Things to build for runner beans

• Bean wigwam:
• A-frame bean row:
• Cold frame:

Where to buy runner beans seeds

Thompson & Morgan · Suttons · Amazon

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Runner beans questions

When should I sow runner beans in the UK?

In the UK, sow runner beans indoors from mid April to late May or outdoors from late May to late June. These dates suit central England; sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland and up to two weeks earlier in the mild south and south west.

When do I plant out runner beans?

Plant runner beans out from late May to late June, once the last frost has passed.

When can I pick runner beans?

Runner beans is ready from mid July to early October. Pick every couple of days when they're about 15-20cm long, before you can see bumps of beans.

How long do runner beans take to grow?

Roughly 12 weeks from sowing or planting until the first harvest.

Are runner beans easy to grow?

Runner beans are rated 'easy peasy' for beginners, and can be grown in the ground or a raised bed or in pots and containers.