Runner beans - seed saving

ampersand

Only one runner bean survived this year and it produced very late, but well.

I was saving some pods for seed, but they remain green, only a little dessicated, now sodden since the rains came. Are they viable or mature in this state?

What to do please?

safestored4

If you picked them at the very green stage they are unlikely to survive. Throw them in a soup or stew. If you want to save runner bean seed, which is very easy, leave a few pods on the plant until they are brittle and the seeds feel loose inside. Then pod them, put them in a bowl in the kitchen for a couple of weeks to dry off and harden up, then just lob them into an envelope until you are ready to plant in the spring.

I have done this sucessfully with a very old heritage variety called Czar for the past 10 years. It might just suit our locality but this is the best variety I have ever grown. It is white seeded so you can pick green beans early in the season and then when you get fed up with them let the plants set seeds which you can harvest, dry off and use as butter beans throughout the winter. You won't find it in the mainstream catalogues but, if you are interested go online to The Real Seed Company. Cheers.

Sally_A

Umm...make that realseeds....the company you mentioned is a dodgy drug seed company :rotfl:

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/runnerbeans.html

safestored4

I don't know where you got that from. They are a well established reputable organic seed company in Wales selling a wide variety of Heritage vegatable varities. After the Lord McAlpine case be careful about slandering online, you don't know what you might be letting yourself in for.

ampersand

Thank you for responding - just back from London.
I didn't make cl;ear that the beans are still attached!

As for saving old varieties - Cherokee is my continuum variety.

Sally_A

safestored4 wrote: »

I don't know where you got that from. They are a well established reputable organic seed company in Wales selling a wide variety of Heritage vegetable varieties. After the Lord McAlpine case be careful about slandering online, you don't know what you might be letting yourself in for.

If you google The Real Seed Company (as per your post), you will not get the website that you intended, hence I posted the link.

Chill!!