The brilliant, scarlet flowers of the runner bean plants, with the dark green background of the leaves, make a great picture in the vegetable garden.
runner-bean-flowers
They also make excellent patio plants when grown in containers because of the scarlet flowers, as well as the vegetables they produce.
scarlet-runner-flowers
- Water in dry weather so the flowers are able to set fruit.
- Keep the runner beans well picked. If beans are left on the vine to mature, flower production will be suppressed and no more runner beans will be produced.
- Give the inevitable surplus beans away, so that more beans are produced
Can they grow in a balcony planter? Or do thy need to have a certain depth? I grew one from seeds a few days ago and already has rooted to the bottom of a 4 inch planter.
Comment by Louis — April 27, 2009 @ 7:40 pm
Hi Louis
Scarlet runners are deep-rooted and need moist, fertile soil to perform well. They need at least 12″ of soil to grow into.
They are cool temperature plants, ideally 14-19°C (57-64°F). So it may be a problem if your bacony is in full sun.
Good luck
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg — April 28, 2009 @ 7:13 am