Early Runner Beans

[MissC]

I was kindly given some runner bean pods last weekend by my plot neighbour under the express instructions that I must plant them that weekend to get a nice early crop because that's what he's done for the last 5 years and has been eating beans by June etc, etc, etc.

So I followed his advice... The bloody things have only been in a week and they're 6 inches tall! I know it's too early to put them outside, especially with this cold snap coming. Can I repot them deeper? They're currently in 10cm pots. I don't want to have to tell my neighbour I killed off my first 'lottie gift within a fortnight

[Thelma Sanders]

I wouldn't try potting them deeper, but you can slow them down a bit by pinching the top growing point off leaving 2 leaves.
This often gives you more than one stem growing upwards, but in the mean time it does slow the plant down.