Runner Bean Advice

[singleseeder]

Hey, now that's what I call rhubarb! Mine is determined to grow with the, not very long, stems almost horizontal to the ground .... grrr

[veggiechicken]

Sorry SL, there was no way of breaking the bindweed to you gently!!
Your rhubarb is excellent though. The leaves on mine are like lace curtains, absolutely chomped away by snails. Still, better they eat that than anything I can eat.

[Samurailord]

That rhubarb plant has been in the ground for three or four years now.

I have followed advice that you should always leave a couple of stems when harvesting - the problem has been that until this year it has never produced more than a couple of spindly little stems, so i have never been able to harvest anything from it.

I even tried to force it this year, but nothing broke the surface at all.

I said to SWMBO that if the rhubarb didn't do anything again this year it was going to get replaced.

Within days of uttering that proclamation (stood next to the empty space that should have had rhubarb in it) the first leaves appeared, and despite the late start (first leaves broke through mid April) it has become a monster!

Perhaps I ought to threaten all my vegies in a similar manner?

What do you think??

Andy

[elizajay]

Rhubarbs are big plants and need room. Yours looks a bit tucked into a corner. I once inherited a rhubarb when we moved house and it was slow, but when I gave it a bigger sunnier spot it grew huge.

[Jeanied]

Lovely rhubarb and some toms coming along nicely! Well done!

[Potstubsdustbins]

Hiya SL and welcome to the mad house.

Good to know I am not the only one with a SWMBO.

Colin

[tamsin]

Now I'm wondering if my self-seeded runners are bindweed too - though they are at least where I grew beans last year - is there an easy/obvious way to tell them apart?

[singleseeder]

One way would be to carefully scrape some soil away at the base of the stem. If you have a decent branching root system half and inch below soild level it is likely to be a bean. If it is white and appears to be a continuation of the stem only, it will be bindweed.

When digging bindweed up you end up with a bundle of roots that looks like spaghetti and any little bit broken off and left in the soil will grow a new plant.

[Rhoda]

Rhubarb looks great!! This is the first proper year for our rhubarb and it is spindly but we've thinned it out once already and it needs doing again! You can definitely taste the difference. Can't believe that your rhubarb is that big after 3 years!! Looks like you're doing well with that and the tomatoes well done

[taff]

Runner bean sleaves aren't shiny, they're bigger, and you'll see tiny pairs of leaves either side of the shooting tip.Bindweed doesn't have opposite pairs of leaves.
Sorry about the bindweed btw...

[donnakebab]

I said to SWMBO that if the rhubarb didn't do anything again this year it was going to get replaced.

Within days of uttering that proclamation (stood next to the empty space that should have had rhubarb in it) the first leaves appeared, and despite the late start (first leaves broke through mid April) it has become a monster!

Perhaps I ought to threaten all my vegies in a similar manner?

What do you think??

Andy

Funny that because earlier this year I proclaimed confidently to all on this forum that I had killed my rhubarb. Now, several crumbles later, it's still going strong.

I think the threat is worth a try but use a gentle soothing voice and don't shout...you don't want to scare them to death!