"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
et...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Broadback writes:
|
| To maximise crop is it best to pinch out runner beans when they reach
| the top of their poles, or leave them to sort themselves out?

Pinch them out. They will produce new shoots from lower down.


And you have to look at them daily, those tips grow at an astonishing
rate! Think Jack and the Beanstalk.

Mary


Is it really necessary to pinch them out? I've grown runner beans for years
up an elongated wigwam of bamboo canes and never pinched them out. We always
get far too many beans and end up giving lots away to visitors. It was only
last week we finished eating the remains of last years frozen ones.

The important thing I was told, is never to allow beans to grow too big or
the plants stop flowering. Where I find the odd one that "has got away" I
pull it off and compost it. Similarly if there are too many beans on the
plants and the freezer is full and everyone including visitors are sick of
the sight of them, I just pull them off and compost them rather than let
them "age".

It is only towards Autumn that we let some pods grow to maturity to provide
seeds for anther year.

Why do supermarkets typically sell pods that are long, stringy and dry
rather than the smaller juicy ones?

David.