Runner beans of doom - 9ft tall by Apr 14th

[markyHD]

I woke up this morning and suddenly realised I have 9ft runner beans in my living room without the faintest idea of what to do next.

They have started to sideshoot rapidly since I terminated the leading stem and trained the last 3 ft horizontally, and they already have loads of bright orange buds, new leaves forming all the way up and down the plants.

When will it be safe to put them outside? and at this stage is there anything I should be looking to do, i.e. do they need feeding like toms?

[Jeanied]

Oh dear. Marky - where abouts are you located, before we can recommend what to do with them? You would be fine in the South of France I reckon!

[markyHD]

Yeah, erm, Manchester lol. Silly B&Q kiddies grow your own kit, it said plant between Feb - Apr :O

[bevanbawb]

Hi Marky,
Since your runners are doing so well why don't you just leave them where they are, just open a window so the bees can get in and pollinate them!
Alternatively you could try to harden them off now but would recommend you also sow some more just in case the cold kills them off.

[Jeanied]

Marky the trick with runner beans is to sow the seeds just at the right time so they can get planted outside after all danger of frost is over. Now the weather forecast for next week is decidedly dodgy! And the old saying of ne'er cast a clout 'till May be out?
So I'm not feeling guilty about not starting mine just yet - and I'm on the edge of Global Warming City!!
All may not be lost though, if you harden them off gradually, get lucky with the frosts, and have a plan B in the pipeline as so eloquently put by my neighbour up there ^^^

[markyHD]

Yeah I guess I can keep them in a bit longer, it's just they were just supposed to be inside temporarily to be honest lol. We don't have a greenhouse or anything because we rent and are moving in July, so everything is in big pots.

I'm also stuck with 7" tom's and 3-4" pepper's and chilli's, again thinking what now lol

[Jeanied]

How about one of those plastic greenhouses, Marky? Wilkinsons do them - however they need to be safely anchored, otherwise they blow away. Hence their nickname - plastic blow aways.

[Paulottie]

It is normally the cold wind that beans resent more than ambient temp...to be honest hardening off is not really a practical option as they most likely will be damaged with the in and out....I imagine they are pretty spindly anyway if they've not been in full light.

Sow some more for planting out...if you can manage to live around the current ones you might be able to get a few early beans off them for fun....they don't need much feeding but constant watering.

[ginger ninger]

Pot your Tomato's, chillies and peppers on into larger pots, but keep them in as much light as you can, with regard to your beans...I've just had a good giggle to myself...Sorry ...9', I've not even sown mine. What have you got them growing in? A pot, grow bag??? If there only in a smallish pot, try potting them on into something 3 times the size there in now, it might help slow them down a little.

[markyHD]

Well i've pinched out the leading stem so they are only bushing out now it seems, so no fear of them getting taller.

They are in a 30cm container, with a bamboo support structure, just the two of them to see what would happen. To be honest i'm not bothered about yield, I just don't want them to die without the kids getting to pick a few beans

As for the toms/chilli's, they are in the light all day, we have double patio south facing doors, the slide type, so like the whole back wall of the living room is like a greenhouse. They are propped up on a shelf I knicked from the DVD cabinet (wife not impressed), by two dvd box sets....I knew i'd find a use for the steven segal filmography I got bought lol

I've potted them into 3" pots last week, with some aubergines aswell, so I guess they'll be ok in that for a few weeks, my lack of knowledge is more knowing when to put things outisde, and into what. Plastic greenhouse sounds like a good idea, would the tom's be ok to go into that now?

[Hermit]

Be acrefull with those plastic greenhouses, i thought they would be frost proof, this time last year a frost his killing my toms, beans and peas. I was not happy, not making that mistake again. The last frost is early may here or so this website says, it dooes all uk citys and towns. So hopefully frost wont be a problem this year.
First and last frost dates for towns and cities in the UK and USA

[Incy]

I don't know where abouts in Manchester you are Marky but pound strecher do the plastic greenhouses very inexpensively. Be careful though as we have temps of around 1 degree forecast at night over the weekend.

[Patchninja]

And the old saying of ne'er cast a clout 'till May be out?
^^^

Apparently, it's not the month, but the bush and here it's in flower. Have a look where you live. Anyway, I've taken of my goose fat vest for the year

[Jax]

Blimey :O Thats very tall! Bet you cant wait to move now lol. I would say the above suggestions are what I would do and the little greenhouse things are quite good I have a few of them lol. You have done very well to get them that tall, I dont seem to be able to do that, accidentally or otherwise lol

[gojiberry]

Greenhouses will only alter temps by one maybe two degrees, so a minus 3 will still give you about minus 1 or 2 in your greenhouse. You could cover with fleece if frost is forcast, two layers is supposed to give a good frost protection.

Ian