Runner Beans---TRIFFID!

Jay-Jay_4 · 1 May 2005 at 11:20PM

Daughter brought a tiny runner bean shoot home from school on Tuesday, it measured about 5cm at the time....now it's turned into a triffid! It's over a foot high already and has out grown the wooden skewer which I was supporting it with :eek:

Whaddo I do with it now?

I don't want to plant it in the garden as the it will get eaten by slugs, trampled on by kids or cut down by the gardeners :rolleyes: Can it go in a pot outside? If so what can I use to keep it upright?

Any advice in how to keep the thing alive would be very much appreciated...or if anyone would like to come to my house and look after it for me....even better

Yikes....I'm crap at plants

quoia · 1 May 2005 at 11:35PM

You need a garden cane (bamboo) that's 8 feet long.
It needs to be planted in about a 9" pot.

Will easy climb to the top in the next 5 or 6 weeks.
Shouldn't be outside for at least another 2 weeks in case there is a frost.

When the plant has reached the top, pinch out the growing tip.
This will stop it going any further and encourage it to make more flowers and hence beans.

Jay-Jay_4 · 1 May 2005 at 11:43PM

quoia wrote:

You need a garden cane (bamboo) that's 8 feet long.
It needs to be planted in about a 9" pot.

Will easy climb to the top in the next 5 or 6 weeks.
Shouldn't be outside for at least another 2 weeks in case there is a frost.

yikes! they grow fast don't they? Can I just buy a bag of soil and transfer it to the bigger pot? I'm struggling to find a spot for it, at the moment it's on the living room windowsill but it obviously can't stay there. Does it need lots of sun?

When the plant has reached the top, pinch out the growing tip.
This will stop it going any further and encourage it to make more flowers and hence beans.

By 'pinch out' do you mean pull the top leaves off it?

...sorry, I'm not very good at this and if it dies I'll have a very upset 5 yr old.

mink35 · 2 May 2005 at 10:37PM

JJ - 'pinching out' just means taking off the top tip of the main stem. You only need to just nick it off with your nail.

Galtizz · 3 May 2005 at 5:01PM

LMAO - Sorry Jay-Jay.

If it starts looking like this

and saying things like 'Feed me, Feed me NOW!' :eek: start to panic :rotfl:

But seriously, if she likes growing stuff try garlic. It is really easy to grow and it grows quickly.

Just plant a clove of garlic in a pot about 1/2 an inch deep and keep it watered. It will shoot up for a bit then once the leaves above ground start to go yellow and die the bulb is ready to dig up. Takes about 1 or 2 months and you can use any old garlic you've already got in the house.

Jay-Jay_4 · 3 May 2005 at 9:39PM

LMAO :rotfl: It REALLY is starting to look like that too :eek: I can practically see it growing!!!

Galtizz wrote:

But seriously, if she likes growing stuff try garlic. It is really easy to grow and it grows quickly.

Just plant a clove of garlic in a pot about 1/2 an inch deep and keep it watered. It will shoot up for a bit then once the leaves above ground start to go yellow and die the bulb is ready to dig up. Takes about 1 or 2 months and you can use any old garlic you've already got in the house.

You're a mind reader! Today I noticed that a couple of half used garlic bulbs have sprouted in the fridge and was wondering about growing them

I may be adventurous and plant one though I'm probably pushing my luck expecting two plants to survive in my house.

Galtizz · 4 May 2005 at 12:51PM

Go for it, garlic is really easy. You just plant it and keep watering it until it dies, it is the perfect plant if you are not so green fingered

and it only grows to about 18inches high so it will still fit on your windowsil.

If the garlic is going anyway you've got nothing ot loose.

Jay-Jay_4 · 4 May 2005 at 7:13PM

Galtizz wrote:

You just plant it and keep watering it until it dies.

LOL....now THAT'S my kind of gardening!!! :rotfl:

:beer: ok.... I'll do it!

squeaky · 4 May 2005 at 7:41PM

You don't have to wait for the garlic to start sprouting, just take off a clove or six and plant them and water as per. Free garlic for life!

scuzz · 17 July 2005 at 11:10AM

Mine aren't doing too well this year. Any tips on how to make them perk up a bit and actually start growing?!

Blimin' wildlife have eaten all our strawberries, despite them being covered and we leave food for them. Greedy things!

Oh and our raspberry bush has only produced one raspberry this year.

Not doing too well in the growing stakes this year!

sarah1 · 17 July 2005 at 7:21PM

RE: Runner Beans :- I absoultely drown mine with water every evening and morning if i have time.Runner Beans love it and they also like lots of sun, so if you have them in pots or tubs try and move them in a full sun place. As for after they have finished try and get some well rotted horse manure and dig this in well keep turning the soil over every so often until you are ready to plant next years crop.
when your flowers start to appear spray them with a sugar and water solution this encourages the bee's to come and pollenate them.
Yours may just be a little bit late compared to other peoples and when there's are starting to go a bit stringy yours may be in there prime. Fingers crossed.

Good Luck

Runner Beans---TRIFFID!

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