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

"Judith in England" wrote in message
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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.