"Stewart Robert Hinsley" wrote in message
...
In message , Christina Websell
writes

"Stewart Robert Hinsley" wrote in message
...
In message , Christina Websell
writes
I'd got some long 6-9ft drying upright to go in the shredder from last
year,
but when I came to do it today they looked as good as bamboo with that
hole
up the middle so I broke all the twiggie bits off for kindling and will
keep
them for bean sticks.
They seem quite strong, has anyone used them in this way?

I tried using them for runner beans this summer. It didn't work. The
base
of the buddleia sticks rotted, and the runner beans collapsed. I leant
the
runner beans against a lilac, but they didn't properly recover from the
shock, and cropped poorly.


Hmm, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, as they seemed so hard
and strong.
It was one of those "why didn't I think of this before?" moments!
Perhaps I'll just use them for pea sticks or plant supports where it's not
so critical.

I've used them to stake plants in pots before without too much trouble;
what was different this time was I was keeping the pot with the runner
beans in well watered since runner beans are (I am informed) thirsty
plants.

Ah, now this is a different thing if you had runner beans in a pot.
I grow my runner beans in the ground and I dig a deep trench for them and
fill the bottom of it with newspapers, vacuum cleanings, some compost and
anything else that will get their roots down into stuff that takes water up.
They so need lots of water.