Your comments and tips

03 May 17, Rosemary Jorgensen (New Zealand - temperate climate)

I also have grown trouble free Scarlet runner beans for years. Last year I had no beans at all. This year I had enough to feed us but none to give away. The culprit is the green vegetable bug or shield beetle. They suck and forming beans dry and then they do not develop. This last season, I examined them every day and squashed beetles. I still was scarcely winning the battle. It is hard to spray with anything because the plants are always in flower and we are eating them every day. I am also inundated with white fly. I sometimes have success water blasting them off, but they are far too persistent on the beans.

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04 May 17, Sean (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Climbing beans, such as Scarlet Runner, often don't set if you have a run of hot weather. White fly are attracted to bright colours like yellow. Get a piece of bright yellow card or plastic sheet and smear it with petroleum jelly. Tie or nail this to a stake near your beans. The white fly will be attracted to the yellow and will stick to the greasy petroleum jelly.

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27 Feb 17, Mike Empson (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

For two years, we have grown scarlet runners on a 2Mtr high frame with pipe outers and wire netting. The plants grow very prolifically, and the harvest was good, but lately the bean pods are significantly reduced in number. They get well-watered, and we pick regularly (perhaps not as frequently as we should) but the beans are tough to eat and quite large. The plant is flourishing well, so is it advisable to trim the tops of the runners, or should we let them grow unrestricted? If we trim them, will the plant still develop? We live in Howick.

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02 Mar 17, John (Australia - temperate climate)

Short pods on healthy plants could be caused by poor pollination due to heat. Beans are a warm season crop but pollination and bean set on climbers like Scarlet Runner can be reduced on very hot days. I have seen Scarlet Runner with some good pods then a gap on the flower spike where the beans didn't set pods then more pods. Beans are self pollinating and don't set on very hot days. I presume the plants are growing from a root that has been in the ground for a number of seasons. As you suggest, regularly picking is a must to stop beans going tough. Cutting back the tops of the runners will reduce your harvest in the short term but will encourage denser growth and may make the plants more manageable. I trust this helps. Maybe another reader has some ideas to solve your problem.

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04 Jan 17, Bob Morrow (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

Have been growing Scarlet runner beans for 30 years but the past 2 years have not been able to get any flowers leave a loan not one bean plant above 1 foot.We have had up to 20mm rain here in New Plymouth just about every second day so I have put it down to that the ground has been to wet not only but have pulled out only to find Eel worms chewing on the roots.I have gone and brought some new plants from our Mitre 10 hoping these will grow for me.Can you explain as why I have not had any beans the past couple years.

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01 Aug 15, mary farmer (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

why do my scarlet runners that have grown very well in the green house, not borne any flowers, they got to a height of 5/6 feet and looked very healthy.?

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