Guv's Gardens
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sun
- Full sun, sheltered
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained
- Soil pH
- Slightly acid to neutral, pH 6.0-7.0; tolerates acid, neutral or alkaline soil
- Water
- Water well in dry spells
- Hardiness
- Tender (frost-tender annual), RHS H2
- Height and spread
- Dwarf types 30-50cm; climbing types to 2m or more on supports
Guv's tipNever eat raw French bean pods. Cook them thoroughly, always. Sow successionally to early July and you'll pick about eight weeks after sowing.
Through the year
Timings are for the UK as a whole. Northern and exposed gardens often run a couple of weeks later.
When to plant
Sow indoors Apr-May. Plant out or sow outdoors late May-Jun after the last frost. Successional sowings to early Jul
Harvest or flowering
Harvest Jul-Sep/early Oct, about 8 weeks after sowing
Pruning
None; support climbing types
Making more plants
Seed
Watch out for
Blackfly (black bean aphid)
Look for: Dense black aphid colonies on shoot tips
What to do: Pinch out infested tips, encourage predators, wash off
Slugs and snails
Look for: Irregular holes in leaves, slime trails, seedlings eaten
What to do: Hand-pick at night, barriers, beer traps, encourage predators; ferric phosphate pellets sparingly
Runner and French bean rust
Uromyces appendiculatusLook for: Rusty brown pustules on leaves
What to do: Remove affected leaves, clear debris at end of season
Always read and follow the label on any treatment, and check it is approved for use where you live.
Safety and spread
Pets and people: Raw or undercooked beans and pods are harmful if eaten (lectin phytohaemagglutinin), medium severity. Never eat raw pods. Cook thoroughly
Weed risk: Not listed as an invasive plant in Great Britain
Growing somewhere else? See this plant for the USA and Australia.
The Plant Doctor and the Guv's book
Printable pest and disease charts with real photographs, and all 50 UK plants in one book.
