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Runner Bean question

Have decided to try growing runner beans this year.

Was going to plant them straight out in the garden (have the wigwam of canes already up) but my neighbour advised me to start some off inside, so have been growing half a dozen in pots on my windowsill - covered in small plastic bags. To my amazement (!) they've shot up and I now, obviously, have to do something with them !!!

I'm assuming that I now need to take the plastic bags off (in fact, I'm not clear about how long they should stay on).

How high do I wait for them to grow before starting to harden them off outside?

I'm planning to put the rest of the seeds straight into the ground - is now a good time to do it?

Sorry if all of this is a bit basic.
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Comments

  • RAS
    RAS Posts: 36,077 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Hi

    take the plastic bags of now. And keep them out of the sun for a day, as they may wilt a bit in the drier atmosphere. Then put them outdoors, but be prepared to bring them back in if frost threatens. That should start to reduce their rate of growth.

    Where are you and what is your last frost date?
    If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing
  • Sally_A
    Sally_A Posts: 2,266 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I've put some frenchies out already, but have old window panes and perspex to lean against the outside walls of the wigwam to keep them snug overnight.
  • wallbash
    wallbash Posts: 17,775 Forumite
    Will start ( some) of the runner beans off this week end , but won't worry if they die as the later ones will be sown straight into the ground in a couple of weeks.
  • wallbash
    wallbash Posts: 17,775 Forumite
    York is early May ( but that comes with no guarantee)
  • Early May? I'm in West Yorkshire and wont be planting my runners out until end of May.
  • Early May? I'm in West Yorkshire and wont be planting my runners out until end of May.

    Sounds like I might have started mine off too early ?
  • wallbash
    wallbash Posts: 17,775 Forumite
    yes but bean seed are cheap , you 'might' not get any more frosts ??? so you are/will be ahead of yorkieorchid
  • wallbash wrote: »
    yes but bean seed are cheap , you 'might' not get any more frosts ??? so you are/will be ahead of yorkieorchid

    You're right - let's think positively !

    And I guess this is part of growing your own; get some advice; do your best; take some chances; go with the seasons; experiment a bit; see what happens. This is nature - and nothing is 100% predictable.

    It'll be a good exercise for me in embracing uncertainty !!
  • cootambear
    cootambear Posts: 1,474 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Corona wrote: »
    You're right - let's think positively !

    And I guess this is part of growing your own; get some advice; do your best; take some chances; go with the seasons; experiment a bit; see what happens. This is nature - and nothing is 100% predictable.

    It'll be a good exercise for me in embracing uncertainty !!

    and seeds are cheap..................
    Freedom is the freedom to say that 2+2 = 4 (George Orwell, 1984).

    (I desire) ‘a great production that will supply all, and more than all the people can consume’,

    (Sylvia Pankhurst).
  • my runners have been outside for a week now (they're 5ft odd! we planted far to early) and they're doing great. My uncle told me earlier that if there is a frost, spray the runners with water BEFORE the sun comes up (not sure if it will do anything?)
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