Topic: Runner bean Moonlight - excellent cropping in heat and drought

[earlypea]

Just a quick plug for it.  Might be useful in future, as I was reading heatwaves come in cycles of 4 years.

I grew two varieties of runners this year.  Enorma, a traditional one, for my mother's runner bean wall and chose Moonlight for the plot, just in case hers didn't come off.  Thought if hers did come off and we were inundated I could use the white beans as fresh butter beans.

Anyway, in this crazy, enduring (and I believe we got the worst of it in the South East) heatwave we've managed two beans thus far from Enorma  Now it's cooler there are a handful developing, but really very few.  Speaking to other people on the allotments they've had similar experiences with their usual runners.

Moonlight, as it is self-pollinating (for those as don't know - most here will ), has been totally prolific.

A good one going forward......

[Paulh]

Moonlight has not worked any better for me than Scarlet Emperor - both are flowering but only a few, small beans have developed. Perhaps they'll pick up now it's cooler.

[earlypea]

That's disappointing PaulH - it's miserable to have no beans.

I would just add that the Moonlight on the plot had horrid, dry soil with not enough compost and get less watering.  My mother's
enorma on the other hand were a birthday present and pampered with the finest compost, mulch and watering every day........it's nearly driven me mad for two beans.

[Digeroo]

My moonlight doing well.  Just picked a large handful.  Also Firestorm (another self pollinator) doing well now, it was very slow to get going just started cropping and now is covered in red flowers.
Next door plot had Enorma, not doing well at all.

[tricia]

My beans are wigwam grown in containers so have been well watered and fed. The Cobra did okay but didn't like the heat and finished very early. The Moonlight stopped producing some weeks ago, only to start major flowering again since the weather cooled. A lot of the flowers seem to be dropping off but some are fruiting, so I'm hoping to get enough to make a bean stew later on!

Tricia 

[woodypecks]

Thanks will make a note in my little green book . For me the French Climbing Bean Blue Lake is producing like crazy !..and absolutely delicious too .  Debbie

[earlypea]

If we're going to talk French beans:  (love talking beans  )

My absolute favourite and always reliable and early Cosse Violette seriously suffered in the wilting heat - I hardly got any.

I was expecting Marvel of Venice to crop late August/September (as previous experience), but it grew extremely quickly and we had loads in July.  Fizzled earlier than expected though.  It's an Italian so it likes heat.

Emperor of Russia. DFB  (from the seed share) did dismally - I've read very good reports of it.  No doubt it was the extreme weather that had this effect.  I'll have to try another season.

Best cropper of all (same last year actually in a most cool July/Aug) was semi-climbing Ice crystal Wax (originally from HSL), absolutely loves heat and is still cropping now.  You only need two of three plants to feed a couple of people every other day.  I find this one an excellent shape and size for modern dishes with a kind of Asian inspiration:  Japanese soupy types and Chinese stir fries.  I gave seeds out for this years ago so I am wondering if anyone else grows it?  Thing is, if you let it develop beans (which I expect seed savers would) it only grows as a dwarf, but if you pick and keep picking it goes on all summer - no kidding.  It fans out after the dwarf stage and reaches about 4.5 feet.  A great one for a small space, I reckon.

[Vinlander]

Best cropper of all (same last year actually in a most cool July/Aug) was semi-climbing Ice crystal Wax (originally from HSL), absolutely loves heat and is still cropping now.  ... Thing is, if you let it develop beans (which I expect seed savers would) it only grows as a dwarf, but if you pick and keep picking it goes on all summer - no kidding.  It fans out after the dwarf stage and reaches about 4.5 feet.  A great one for a small space, I reckon.

Sounds perfect for the '3 sisters' method using modern sweetcorn (only half the height of the corn used where it was invented) - the 3rd sister should also be smaller - I've had good results using ridge cucumbers (I used crystal apple/lemon - I just love them when they are white & only 3cmx2cm or so -  the spines are crunchy and it's best cucumber flavour ever - they never make it to being pickled).

I used to use a 'dwarf' borlotti that did the same thing but there are dozens of similar ones and not all of them do it.

Cheers.