I like to read new articles about starting plants that I have started before, but this article threw me:
Sometimes simply called “scarlet runners,” these plants have so many diverse benefits that they should be on must-have plant lists at every school, community, and home garden that has room for the vigorous vines!
kidsgardening.org
"Dig up the tuberous roots for replanting. Similar to dahlias, you can dig up the roots and store them in damp sand in a place that stays cool but not freezing.
The plants will re-grow quickly once the roots are replanted in spring. "
Is this
normal for beans?!?!?
As already mentioned, runner beans (
P. coccineus) can form tubers - common beans do not. I've only noticed the tubers in one variety, though, Aeron Purple Star.
Those tubers are from 2016. I tried to over-winter them, but our winters are too long, and none of them survived until Spring. Over-wintering tubers is really unnecessary, since the plants grow so rapidly from seed... but it would be a good tool to clean up crossed varieties.
Ok, back to the newbie, here!!! I need advice. Last year I grew, I think, Kentucky Wonder and some kind of purple bean. They both tried to sprawl on the ground and it was very hard to harvest. I already have scarlett runner beans, but I am trying them at DD's house, some 10 miles away, so that I might be able to harvest pods and seeds without cross pollination. Can you recommend other types of runner beans? AND, do I have to train them to climb, or will they do it on their own? I am planting beans this year along an east facing, but very sunny old cattle fencline, by the street. Thanks!!!
Pole beans sometimes need a little guidance getting started, but should mostly climb on their own after that. Some of the later side runners might run on the ground, you can either train them, or cut them off (which does not reduce yield). True runner beans are strong clmbers, and will seldom crawl on the ground if support is within reach. Runner beans will not cross with common beans, but they can cross with other runner beans grown within the bee local foraging range... which can be a mile or more. I usually grow two varieties per year, in locations 6 miles apart. The jury is still out, IMO, on whether hummingbirds can transfer pollen; but I have seen no evidence of that yet.
If you are growing runner beans for their attractive flowers, or to attract hummingbirds, there are numerous varieties with red flowers, including Scarlet Runner, Insuk's Wang Kong, and Aeron Purple Star. There are also numerous white flowered & white seeded varieties, as well as red & white bi-color (Tucomares Chocolate or Painted lady), or pink (Apricot or Sunset). The pods of any runner bean are edible as snaps when young & very similar in flavor; but the best varieties for pods are those bred in the U.K. for that purpose, if you can find them.
While runner beans will flower in hot weather, the flowers will usually drop unfertilized; pod set will seldom occur until cool temperatures arrive. For me, a cool snap usually comes for a couple days in August, at which time hundreds of blossoms might set. In warmer Southern climates, it may be difficult to get pods to set. It may be necessary to start the plants early, in hopes of getting pods to set before hot weather arrives. I've had some success getting flowers to set on hot days, by spraying the plants with cool water a couple times in the afternoon.
