Originally posted by rpt
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pinching out runner bean tip?
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Originally posted by Tripmeup View Posthow does pinching them out deter the blackfly..??Originally posted by Thelma Sanders View PostThe old leaves are nowhere near as appetising to them
Aphids (black & greenfly) are sap suckers: they need the youngest, juiciest bits of the plant in order to access the sap. Take that food source away and ... no aphids (or fewer, anyway)All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.
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Dear CKFE,
Yes, this is normally practice once the growing tips reach the top of their supports. Pinching out removes apical dominance and alllows the side shoots to develop. You will need to manually 'weave in' the side shoots that develop as they can wander.
The alternative is to make your runner bean supports taller. They will run out of steam, and stop growing vertically eventually - some varieties do this at a lower height than others. For fun, I had mine climbing up our drainpipes one year. The Painted Lady variety that I grew that year grew up 4 metres (12 feet) of vertical pipe height. Had I had the patience to uncoil these plants at the end of the season they would have bean significantly longer than 4 metres! The only snag is that I had to harvest the beans using a stepladder! So keeping your beans at a reachable height and pinching out the tips does have its advantages!
Kind regards
GardeningMike
(horticulturist)
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Originally posted by GardeningMike View PostI had to harvest the beans using a stepladder!All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.
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Last year due to work commitments my hubby couldn't get to our veg patch as often as we would have liked. He is a lot taller than me so as I is short I pinched out my runner beans well before the top of the wigwam. It worked out very well.A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows
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Runner Bean - To pinch or not
year my runner beans grew taller than the canes they were climbing up. Should I pinch them out when they reach to top of the canes or just leave them to wave about until they cling on to each other. Will pinching out encourage more shoots lower down.
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