Runner Bean

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Aphids

Aphids

Aphididae

Curled leaves, sticky honeydew and ants on patrol — usually with something already eating them.

, Cutworms

Cutworms

Noctuidae

A seedling lying beside its own stump in the morning, cut clean through at soil level.

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Attract Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Ladybugs

Ladybugs

Coccinellidae

The one predator here where the adults hunt as hard as the larvae do.

, Parasitic wasps

Parasitic wasps

Braconidae, Ichneumonidae and relatives

Pinhead-sized, stingless, and lethal to aphids and caterpillars from the inside.

, Ground beetles

Ground beetles

Carabidae

Night-active ground hunters, taking slugs, cutworms and leatherjackets at soil level.

to keep them in check — plant African MarigoldExcellent, Belgian EndiveExcellent and ChervilExcellent nearby.

Growing from seed

Direct-sow Runner Bean outdoors about 1 weeks after your last frost, keeping seeds in warm soil (around 20–25 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 8 days. Grow in full sun, spaced about 15 cm apart. Expect to harvest in roughly 60 days.

Keep track of the seeds you own.

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  Growing Beans: Bush or Pole, Snap or Dry

  Beans are the crop most likely to be called easy and most likely to be grown wrong. Almost every decision — where they go, what you feed them, when you pick — follows from two questions you answer before you sow: how tall does this one get, and are you eating the pod or the seed?

  Read the guide

Companion Planting

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  African Marigold
  

  African MarigoldExcellent pair

  • ❧African Marigold attracts Hoverflies and Lacewings and more, which prey on the Aphids that attack Runner Bean
  • ❧Runner Bean fixes nitrogen in the soil that African Marigold feeds on
  • ❧African Marigold suppresses pests that trouble Runner Bean
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  Belgian Endive
  

  Belgian EndiveExcellent pair

  • ❧Belgian Endive attracts Hoverflies and Lacewings and more, which prey on the Aphids that attack Runner Bean
  • ❧Runner Bean fixes nitrogen in the soil that Belgian Endive feeds on
  • ❧Belgian Endive draws Bees and Bumblebees and more that improve pollination for both
• 
  Chervil
  

  ChervilExcellent pair

  • ❧Chervil attracts Hoverflies and Lacewings and more, which prey on the Aphids that attack Runner Bean
  • ❧Runner Bean fixes nitrogen in the soil that Chervil feeds on
  • ❧Chervil draws Bees that improve pollination for both

How to grow Runner Bean

1. Sow1 weeks from frost
2. Germinates8 days
3. Space15 cm apart
4. GrowFull sun
5. Harvest~60 days

Water: Medium · Height: 250 cm · Soil: Rich, moist, well-draining — mulch to retain moisture