Guidelines for Sowing and Cultivating Pole Beans Outdoors
Sow your runner beans around late spring for an abundant harvest. These tasty legumes love warm, wet soil and grow quickly, wrapping themselves around their supports. If you're eager to start your garden, you can still seed the beans now or pick up some tender seedlings. Either way, you'll relish in a delectable crop that outshines the watery, lackluster supermarket varieties.
To guarantee a succulent runner bean crop, remember to plant them in a sun-drenched area with well-draining, rich soil. Beans are voracious feeders, demanding nutrient-rich dirt enriched with decomposed compost or manure. Follow our user-friendly guide for cultivating runner beans below.
Materials Needed
- Runner bean seeds or young plants
- A trowel
- A seed tray or small pots
- Peat-free, multipurpose compost
Step 1
Sow a few extra seeds as a backup in case some plants perish. You can start these seeds either directly in the soil or in seed trays or pots containing peat-free, multipurpose compost to cultivate indoors.
Pro Tips
Step 2
As your plants develop, be sure to water them consistently. These little climbers will be ready for transplant outdoors once their roots are robust but not confined by the container. Ensure all frost risks have passed and acclimate them to outdoor temperatures for a week by bringing them in at night and exposing them to daylight.
Step 3
Before transferring your plants, make sure the soil is adequately watered. Set up a wigwam using bamboo canes or sticks in well-prepared earth. Dig a hole at the base of each cane and gently place your ready-to-be-planted seedlings, ensuring the top of the root ball sits level with the surrounding soil. Fill the hole around the roots with soil, pat it down gently, and water the plants well. Apply a 5cm-deep layer of damp compost around the base of the plants to help retain soil moisture.
Smart Tips
Watering TechniquesAim for targeted watering by creating shallow indentations near your plants, filling them with water, and allowing it to soak directly down to their roots, instead of running excessively onto the soil surface.
Place the runner bean seedlings in seed trays or pots filled with peat-free, multipurpose compost for indoor cultivation. To maintain a flourishing home-and-garden lifestyle, a sun-drenched area with well-draining, rich soil is essential for growing these tasty legumes, such as those used in gardening.
