Vegetable · Fabaceae
Runner Bean
Phaseolus coccineus
Give it sun, something tall to climb, and steady water, and this easygoing climber just keeps cropping until frost.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
50–77°F · 10–25°C
65–75 days
Overview
Here's a climber that earns its space twice over, once for its flowers and again for its long, tender pods. It's a member of the bean family, and here's a fun wrinkle: in mild zones 7 to 11 it's actually a perennial, since the chunky roots make it through winter, though plenty of folks just grow it fresh each year. Prop up a tall support and it'll scramble 6 to 10 feet before summer's done.
Want color all season? You'll get it, because the blooms keep coming from early summer to frost in scarlet, white, or a pink-and-white mix, depending on what you plant. Bees and hummingbirds love them, and every flower that takes turns into a green pod you'll want to grab young. Miss a few and they'll toughen up, but that's fine, since you can just shell the older ones for fresh or dried beans.
The best part? These beans are hard to mess up. They make their own nitrogen, so they barely need feeding, and once you hand them something to hold they climb all on their own. What they do care about is cool summers and even moisture, because heat's the thing that knocks the flowers off before they can set.
Care
The short version: give runner beans full sun and a tall support, keep that fertile, well-drained soil evenly moist with around 1 inch of water a week, and don't bother feeding much since they make their own nitrogen.
Light
Runner beans want full sun, plain and simple, and there's no shade on their list of what they'll tolerate. All that light is what keeps them climbing fast and flowering steadily, so hand them the sunniest spot you've got.
Water
Aim for about 1 inch of water a week and keep the soil evenly moist, especially while they're flowering and setting pods. Got sandy soil? It dries out quicker, so you'll water a bit more often. That steady moisture is also what stops the flowers dropping when it heats up.
Soil
They're happiest in fertile, well-drained loam at around pH 6.0 to 7.0. Mix in a little compost before you sow and the deep roots will pretty much take it from there.
Temperature
They like it between 50°F and 77°F (10°C to 25°C), so a cool summer is right up their alley. Once it gets hotter than that, though, the flowers start dropping before they can set pods.
Humidity
No need to fuss over humidity here, since the usual outdoor range of 40% to 70% suits them fine. Just leave a bit of space between plants so the air can move through.
Feeding
Go easy on the feeding, because these plants make their own nitrogen. A light 5-10-10 at planting is plenty, and too much nitrogen just gives you leaves instead of beans, which isn't what you're after.
Pruning
You won't do much pruning, which is nice. Once a vine hits the top of its support, pinch out the growing tip to get it branching and setting more pods, and keep picking off the spent ones so the harvest keeps rolling.
Repotting
Pots aren't really this plant's thing. Just sow it straight in the garden at the base of a tall support instead of trying to raise it in a container.
Size & spacing
These vines climb 6 to 10 feet (1.8 to 3 m) but stay slim down low, only spreading about 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 cm). Give each one a good tall support and a little elbow room so air can get to the leaves.
When to plant
When should you sow? Once the frost's behind you and the soil's warmed to 50°F to 60°F (10°C to 16°C), pop the seeds straight in the ground. From there it's about two months to the first young pods, and they'll keep coming right up to frost.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Optional: 2-3 weeks before the last spring frost in biodegradable pots to avoid root disturbance.
- Plant: After the last spring frost, once soil is at least 50-60°F (10-16°C).
- Harvest: Flowers from early-to-mid summer until frost; harvest young pods (10-15 cm / 4-6 in) about 65-75 days after sowing.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 7–11
Temperature: down to -18°C
Troubleshooting
If something's off with a runner bean, it'll usually show up in the flowers, the pods, or the leaves. The nice thing is those signs are easy to spot, so you can jump in before a little snag turns into a lost crop. Find what matches below and sort it while it still helps.
Flowers keep dropping without making pods
This one's blossom drop, and it's almost always the heat. Once the days get hotter than 80°F to 90°F (27°C to 32°C), the pollen quits and the flowers fall before they can set a pod. Keep the roots cool and evenly watered, toss a bit of afternoon shade over them in a hot spell, and things pick right back up once the weather calms down.
Fix:
- Keep soil evenly moist and mulch to moderate root-zone temperature
- Provide light afternoon shade during heat waves
- Wait for cooler weather, when pod set typically resumes
Leaves get chewed to lace or curl up weird
Lacy leaves with little yellow grubs underneath usually mean the Mexican bean beetle, while curled new growth full of tiny soft bugs points to aphids. Pick the beetles, grubs, and orange egg clusters off by hand, hose the aphids away with a strong spray, and only reach for insecticidal soap if it gets really bad. Check often, throw row fabric over the young plants, and let the lady beetles help out.
Fix:
- Hand-pick beetles, larvae and egg masses
- Dislodge aphids with a strong spray of water
- Apply insecticidal soap to heavy infestations
Pods come out tough and stringy
Leave pods on too long and they go over-mature, filling up with the fibers and strings that make them snap instead of bend. Easy fix: pick them young at 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm), and take a look every 2 to 3 days so none sneak past. Any that do slip by can still be shelled for fresh or dried beans.
Fix:
- Harvest pods young, at 10-15 cm (4-6 in)
- Pick every 2-3 days to catch pods at peak tenderness
Toxicity
Good news here: the cooked pods and beans are great eating, and the growing plant won't hurt your pets or livestock. The one catch is raw mature beans, which carry a natural lectin called phytohaemagglutinin that can upset a stomach, so cook the dried seeds all the way and keep them somewhere a cat or dog can't grab them raw.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs
Safe for
People · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats Caution
Cats aren't listed as at risk here, and most won't give a runner bean a second look anyway. The thing to watch is raw mature beans, since the lectin in them can leave a cat with vomiting or diarrhea if it eats a few, so keep the dried seeds out of reach.
Dogs Caution
Runner beans aren't poisonous to dogs, but a dog that scarfs down raw dried beans can get an upset stomach from that same lectin. Cooked pods and beans are no problem, so it's really just the raw mature seeds to put away.
Horses Safe
A horse grazing nearby has nothing to worry about with this plant. Like with any legume, you'd skip feeding big amounts of raw dried beans, but the plant itself isn't toxic.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can nibble the leaves and be perfectly fine. Just keep them off the raw mature seeds, which have the same lectin that bothers other animals, and let them stick to foliage and young pods.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep aren't in any danger from the growing plant. The only thing to avoid is feeding a bunch of raw dried beans, which really ought to be cooked instead of served raw.
Birds Safe
Backyard birds and poultry do just fine around runner beans. Don't hand them raw dried beans by the bowlful, since the uncooked seed is rough on their gut, but pods and foliage are no bother.
People Safe
For people, cooked pods and beans are a real treat and totally safe to eat. Raw mature beans are the exception, though, since they've got phytohaemagglutinin, so always cook the dried seeds well before they hit the plate.
Raw or undercooked mature (dry) seeds contain phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin that can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea if eaten in quantity; cook seeds thoroughly. Young pods, cooked, are safe.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
United Kingdom
Animal PoisonLine: 01202 509000 (fee applies)
Australia
Animal Poisons Helpline: 1300 869 738
Varieties
There aren't many runner beans to keep straight, and they mostly sort by flower color and whether you grow them to eat, to admire, or both. Here are the few worth knowing by name.
Scarlet Emperor
A well-known scarlet-flowered heirloom that's ready in about 75 days and keeps sending out long green pods in big flushes.
Painted Lady
An ornamental favorite people grow for its red-and-white bicolor flowers just as much as for the beans.
White-flowered (e.g. 'Czar' / 'Albus')
A do-it-all type with white flowers and big white seeds that's great as a fresh pod or a shell bean.
Companions
Runner beans shine in the Three Sisters planting, climbing the corn for support and feeding nitrogen back to it and the squash sprawling below.
Plant near
corn: In the Three Sisters planting, corn stalks give the climbing beans a natural support while the beans fix nitrogen for the corn.
squash: Part of the Three Sisters; sprawling squash shades the soil and deters pests while the beans climb the corn and fix nitrogen.
How to propagate
Starting these from seed couldn't be simpler, honestly. They go right in the ground and sprout on their own, no soaking or chilling or any of that.
SeedEasy
Direct-sow outdoors after the last spring frost once soil reaches at least 50-60°F (10-16°C). · Germinates in 7-14 days; begins flowering about two months after sowing.
Just poke the seeds in 1 to 1.5 inches (2.5 to 4 cm) deep right at the base of a tall support, once the frost's gone and the soil's warmed up to 50°F to 60°F (10°C to 16°C). They'll be up in 7 to 14 days and flowering about two months later, so there's really no hurry to start them indoors, though you can sow 2 to 3 weeks early under cover if you want a jump. And in mild zones, you can even lift the tuberous roots in fall and overwinter them for an earlier crop the following year.
Myths
Runner beans are poisonous, so you shouldn't eat them.
Cooked young pods are just an everyday vegetable that loads of people grow and eat all the time. The only real problem is raw or undercooked mature dry seeds, which have phytohaemagglutinin in them and can upset your stomach. Cook the dried beans through and they're totally safe.
Runner beans need loads of nitrogen to crop well.
Like other legumes, they grab their own nitrogen from the air using Rhizobium bacteria in their roots, so they hardly need anything from you. Pour on the nitrogen and you'll just grow leaves instead of beans, since all that leafy growth comes at the pods' expense.