I have always fed mine: liquid feed every couple of weeks.

I have just watched two videos on runner beans: both said not to feed them.

What do others do please?

"Judith in England" wrote in message
news
I have always fed mine: liquid feed every couple of weeks.

I have just watched two videos on runner beans: both said not to feed them.

What do others do please?

It depends entirely one how you have prepared the ground in the first
place. Traditionally, a trench is taken out in the Autumn where next
years runner beans are to go. Into this trench all the Autumn vegetable
waste is placed and then covered with fine soil for the winter. When
the beans are planted on this in the late Spring, they require no
additional feed. If you have not prepared a trench for your beans,
then they will need regular feeds throughout their growing season.

Phil (where I have done all the right things and the weather is 'pants')
Northern Highlands of Scotland

On Fri, 19 Jun 2015 10:35:05 +0100, Judith in England wrote:

I have always fed mine: liquid feed every couple of weeks.

I have just watched two videos on runner beans: both said not to feed
them.

What do others do please?

Depends on the health of your soil. One thing they definitely will NOT
need is nitrogen, nodules in their roots fix atmospheric N2. So it's P
and K you MIGHT need to feed. A dressing of blood and bone when planting
would probably do that. If the soil is in good heart and the bed is in a
rotation system I wouldn't bother to feed at all. YMMV.

"philgurr" wrote in message
...

"Judith in England" wrote in message
news
I have always fed mine: liquid feed every couple of weeks.

I have just watched two videos on runner beans: both said not to feed
them.

What do others do please?

It depends entirely one how you have prepared the ground in the first
place. Traditionally, a trench is taken out in the Autumn where next
years runner beans are to go. Into this trench all the Autumn vegetable
waste is placed and then covered with fine soil for the winter. When
the beans are planted on this in the late Spring, they require no
additional feed. If you have not prepared a trench for your beans,
then they will need regular feeds throughout their growing season.

Phil (where I have done all the right things and the weather is 'pants')
Northern Highlands of Scotland


Agree with you, Phil. I plant my runners on top of a trench that I have
lined with paper shreddings, old sweaters, manure, compost, and watered
copiously - the idea is to retain moisture plus they are greedy feeders. If
you cannot do this, they will need watering and feeding.

Weather is pants here too. It's been very cold for germination and only got
4 runners up out of 10, and 3 climbing french out of 10. Chancing my arm
with sowing 6 more runners and 8 more french today in the hope they'll have
enough time to mature.

Tina

On 21/06/2015 16:36, Christina Websell wrote:
"philgurr" wrote in message
...

"Judith in England" wrote in message
news
I have always fed mine: liquid feed every couple of weeks.

I have just watched two videos on runner beans: both said not to feed
them.

What do others do please?

It depends entirely one how you have prepared the ground in the first
place. Traditionally, a trench is taken out in the Autumn where next
years runner beans are to go. Into this trench all the Autumn vegetable
waste is placed and then covered with fine soil for the winter. When
the beans are planted on this in the late Spring, they require no
additional feed. If you have not prepared a trench for your beans,
then they will need regular feeds throughout their growing season.

Phil (where I have done all the right things and the weather is 'pants')
Northern Highlands of Scotland


Agree with you, Phil. I plant my runners on top of a trench that I have
lined with paper shreddings, old sweaters, manure, compost, and watered
copiously - the idea is to retain moisture plus they are greedy feeders. If
you cannot do this, they will need watering and feeding.

Weather is pants here too. It's been very cold for germination and only got
4 runners up out of 10, and 3 climbing french out of 10. Chancing my arm
with sowing 6 more runners and 8 more french today in the hope they'll have
enough time to mature.

Tina


I sow 2 seeds every 6 inches so for your 20 beans I would only need a
trench 4ft 6ins long, and wouldn't have room for old sweaters, If you
are on chalk then a trench around 12 inches deep lined with newspaper
and with 6 to 8 inches of manure topped with around 9 inches of topsoil
mixed with your compost should give you a first class crop, if you are
worried about your trench drying out you could also add water retaining
polymer crystals to the top of the manure and the lower 6 inches of the
soil/ compost mix.

On 21/06/2015 10:46, Derek Turner wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jun 2015 10:35:05 +0100, Judith in England wrote:

I have always fed mine: liquid feed every couple of weeks.

I have just watched two videos on runner beans: both said not to feed
them.

What do others do please?

Depends on the health of your soil. One thing they definitely will NOT
need is nitrogen, nodules in their roots fix atmospheric N2. So it's P
and K you MIGHT need to feed. A dressing of blood and bone when planting
would probably do that. If the soil is in good heart and the bed is in a
rotation system I wouldn't bother to feed at all. YMMV.


I'd give then a balanced feed for the first few weeks as the roots wont
be fixing any nitrogen till the plants are in flower, so you will have
to help them get good early growth.

"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 19 Jun 2015 10:35:05 +0100, Judith in England wrote:

I have always fed mine: liquid feed every couple of weeks.

I have just watched two videos on runner beans: both said not to feed
them.

What do others do please?

Depends on the health of your soil. One thing they definitely will NOT
need is nitrogen, nodules in their roots fix atmospheric N2. So it's P
and K you MIGHT need to feed. A dressing of blood and bone when planting
would probably do that. If the soil is in good heart and the bed is in a
rotation system I wouldn't bother to feed at all. YMMV.

I am a fan of fish.blood and bone but have never tried it with runner beans.
I have a knipfofia that planted itself under a wall without much soil and it
did 3 or 4 spikes until this year when I threw some some fbb at it. 11
spikes.

On Fri, 19 Jun 2015 10:35:05 +0100, Judith in England
wrote:

snip



Excellent: thanks to all for interesting replies.

I must be doing something right: the first one is at the top of the cane:
nearly ready to pinch out the top: and a number have got their first flowers.
I have planted alternate Red Rum and Moonlight: so hoping for a colourful red
and white "wall" before the beans are ready.

Hi Judith,
Well we're in Lincolnshire, this is our first try of growing Runner Beans, so it's very hit or miss. Sooo - 4 large tubs, 3 canes per tub, 3 RB plants. Suddenly started to take off this week - it has been sunny, and they get that virtually all day long. Uploaded 2 images. I've been feeding them Tomato feed once a week. So - if Flowers mean Beans, then it's working for me!

Ange
x

"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 21/06/2015 16:36, Christina Websell wrote:
"philgurr" wrote in message
...

"Judith in England" wrote in message
news I have always fed mine: liquid feed every couple of weeks.

I have just watched two videos on runner beans: both said not to feed
them.

What do others do please?

It depends entirely one how you have prepared the ground in the first
place. Traditionally, a trench is taken out in the Autumn where next
years runner beans are to go. Into this trench all the Autumn vegetable
waste is placed and then covered with fine soil for the winter. When
the beans are planted on this in the late Spring, they require no
additional feed. If you have not prepared a trench for your beans,
then they will need regular feeds throughout their growing season.

Phil (where I have done all the right things and the weather is 'pants')
Northern Highlands of Scotland


Agree with you, Phil. I plant my runners on top of a trench that I have
lined with paper shreddings, old sweaters, manure, compost, and watered
copiously - the idea is to retain moisture plus they are greedy feeders.
If
you cannot do this, they will need watering and feeding.

Weather is pants here too. It's been very cold for germination and only
got
4 runners up out of 10, and 3 climbing french out of 10. Chancing my arm
with sowing 6 more runners and 8 more french today in the hope they'll
have
enough time to mature.

Tina


I sow 2 seeds every 6 inches so for your 20 beans I would only need a
trench 4ft 6ins long, and wouldn't have room for old sweaters, If you are
on chalk then a trench around 12 inches deep lined with newspaper and with
6 to 8 inches of manure topped with around 9 inches of topsoil mixed with
your compost should give you a first class crop, if you are worried about
your trench drying out you could also add water retaining polymer crystals
to the top of the manure and the lower 6 inches of the soil/ compost mix.


Old sweaters are good in bean trenches.

"Judith in England" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 19 Jun 2015 10:35:05 +0100, Judith in England
wrote:

snip



Excellent: thanks to all for interesting replies.

I must be doing something right: the first one is at the top of the cane:
nearly ready to pinch out the top: and a number have got their first
flowers.
I have planted alternate Red Rum and Moonlight: so hoping for a colourful
red
and white "wall" before the beans are ready.

I am very fond of Enorma.

In article ,
says...
I must be doing something right: the first one is at the top of the cane:
nearly ready to pinch out the top: and a number have got their first
flowers.



I've always wondered about pinching out the tops. Doesit
improve the yield or quality, or is it just to keep them at a
manageable height?

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

On Tue, 28 Jul 2015 14:22:19 +0100, Roger Tonkin wrote:

In article ,
says...
I must be doing something right: the first one is at the top of the cane:
nearly ready to pinch out the top: and a number have got their first
flowers.



I've always wondered about pinching out the tops. Doesit
improve the yield or quality, or is it just to keep them at a
manageable height?


Must admit I don't know: last year I left them to grow as much as they liked:
this year pinching out tops as I had read it somewhere.

I'll let you know any difference at the end of the season ;-)