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Best ways to get runner bean tubers to overwinter and regrow quickly?

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posted 10 years ago

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I grow "stringless" runner bean varieties. I love the productivity of these little beasts. If you keep the plant watered and you keep picking pods before the beans get big inside you can get months of production. Both in Ireland and in Canada, some of the runner bean "tubers" overwinter. But the success rate for me has been fairly low. I do now know why. Maybe only one in 5 survived the winter. Many tubers rotted or got devoured by woodlice. Why? Just up the road from me Barbara has beans from tubers that have already set flowers and have baby runner beans growing fast. Mine have just put up their first shoots. How are hers so much earlier? I have runner beans in flower from seed, I saw humming birds visit them today, but the other guys (from tuber) have barely moved. BUT there are 4 or 4 shoots coming from one tuber. Can we divide it to make 5 plants?

and here is the tuber , it only came out of hibernation last week but now it seems to be growing furiously. Anyone know how to wake them up much earlier, Like Barbara's beans?

André Troylilas

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I just don't know, but would really like to know.
My "Orteils de Prêcheurs" overwintered, but haven't started growing anything yet...

G Freden

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Mine look like yours, Brian. I've never done it, but I've heard you can dig them up and store them over winter in a frost free place, then start them into growth indoors. I've done this successfully with dahlia tubers--stored them in a dark cupboard then planted them in pots in my kitchen in February. Never tried with runner beans though.

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Joseph Lofthouse

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I don't have anything to contribute to the discussion about overwintering runner bean tubers. However, something growing in a pot has radically different growing conditions than something growing in the ground.

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Brian White

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posted 10 years ago

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That is a good contribution, Joseph! Barbara's are in the ground and these ones of mine are in a pot and they are the first to grow, but I do have other tubers that are still alive in the ground. Some rotted earlier in the year and the woodlice seem to be the main enemy. . I have had over wintering runner beans come back in Ireland in the ground, and here too, but never had any meaningful production from them. But I have seen barbs and they were still producing lots in late september, while now they already have baby beans on them! I would love to know what the trigger is for them to start growing again. Maybe heat or longer days, I don't know.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
I don't have anything to contribute to the discussion about overwintering runner bean tubers. However, something growing in a pot has radically different growing conditions than something growing in the ground.

Joseph Lofthouse

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I wonder if Barbara's runner beans have been selected to thrive when grown from tubers?

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Gail Vance

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posted 10 years ago

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I left my scarlet runners in the ground, hoping to find out if they were indeed perennial. Reading through this thread makes me wonder if putting some plastic down after last frost might warm up the soil and get them started faster. Essentially, that is what you are doing when you start seeds inside, having warm soil etc.

jacque greenleaf

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Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
I don't have anything to contribute to the discussion about overwintering runner bean tubers. However, something growing in a pot has radically different growing conditions than something growing in the ground.

True, and some plants think this is OK. Some don't.

I grow my dahlias in pots, to save them from whatever rodents find them tasty. (Yacon is basically a dahlia.) And since I'm lazy, I bring the pots inside at first frost and let them dry slowly, without digging them up. Pots go back outside when the tubers have woken up and sent up green sprouts.

I've decided to try treating Black and Blue Salvia the same way in the future. The smaller one I had in a pot from last year sprouted a good two weeks before the large one in the ground, undoubtedly because its roots noticed the warmer weather sooner.

So sure, I'd try doing this for runner beans. And it may be that warmer root temps will wake them up sooner. Then when I put the pots outside, I'd figure out a way to keep them a bit warmer than ambient. Prop up some old windows around them? They wouldn't need it for long.

Another thing I'm going to try this year - drilling holes in the sides of the pots that the dahlias are living in, and sinking them into the ground for the summer.

Tristan Vitali

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posted 10 years ago

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Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
I wonder if Barbara's runner beans have been selected to thrive when grown from tubers?

Was going to reply to this yesterday but then my laptop battery went blewy on me! Decided to chance it and see if things go better this time

This is very possibly the case (selected for regrowth) as in most of the seed catalogs I've seen, runner beans aren't even advertised as being perennial. Brian - see if you can find out what cultivar she's growing and maybe grab some seed or a tuber to trial at your site.

Planning to do runner beans here next year - doubt they'll make it through our winters but with enough snow cover, you never know. If nothing else, they're supposed to be not nearly as picky with the warm soils and lots of sun requirements as the regular old pole beans we've been growing. Is anyone familiar with the different runner bean cultivars and their regrowth vigor? So far, I've been mainly looking at seed color for an indicator of sprouting temps (the darker the seed, the more tolerant of cool soils is what I've seen). Many have beautifully mottled black/red/purple seeds so that *must* be a good sign. Our kentucky wonders are medium-tan and wont sprout until soil temp's in the 70*F range (early to middle June) while the provider bush bean, with lightly purple seed, sprouts between 65*F and 68*F (middle to late May). I'd love to get that extra 2-4 weeks on the pole beans if we can, but reliably perennial trumps "sprouting temp" any day in my book

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Michi Harper

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posted 10 years ago

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Tristan Vitali wrote:

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
Brian - see if you can find out what cultivar she's growing and maybe grab some seed or a tuber to trial at your site.

I would be happy to test them for heat tolerance, here, in North Central Texas.
Michi

Christine Gale

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posted 5 years ago

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I went to pull out runner beans last year in the polytunnel and noticed large tubers. I moved these and covered them with leaves. They have grown again this year. They are now 6-8 feet tall with lots of scarlet flowers.

Michael Cox

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posted 5 years ago

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My attempt failed this year. I lifted tubers and stored them in woodchips in the green house. They rotted.

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Cécile Stelzer Johnson

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posted 2 years ago

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André Troylilas wrote:I just don't know, but would really like to know.
My "Orteils de Prêcheurs" overwintered, but haven't started growing anything yet...

We too, André. I do suspect that yours are not the runner beans we have here, though: Yours, according to the French Wiki is an ancient seed that is *white*: https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/orteil_de_pr%C3%AAcheur
The Latin name is phaseolus coccinus and is dark like in this picture:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaseolus_coccineus
They say there exists a larger one, Japanese. I'd like to try those too.
Maybe I spoke too soon: Further down in the article, they do mention that in Spain, in Greece also , they come as a big *white bean* and that the starchy root is eaten in Mesoamerica.
I learn every day!

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Ac Baker

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posted 10 months ago

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Today I learned this!

I have saved some runner bean seeds already.

So I'm going to do a three arm experiment:

(1) Save any more mature seeds to start as usual in Spring, planting out mid-May after our last aversge frost;

(2) Heavily mulch half the plants in situ with nettles & other straw, to feed the tubers for Spring;

(3) Lift the rest of the plants to overwinter in the shed then plant in a new location with a rich mulch e.g garden compost in mid-May.

Watch this space!

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Ac Baker

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Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote: that the starchy root is eaten in Mesoamerica.

I missed this earlier.

Anyone reading who has reliable information about eating runner bean roots?

Various reports online from "delicious" to "meh" to "made me ill".

Plants for a Future also has a reference to the tubers being poisonous: https://pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Phaseolus+coccineus from Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6

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Ac Baker

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So it seems that there's quite a range of Phaseolus coccineus varieties, with different colours of flowers and mature beans, and seed patterns and colours.

I was brought up in England exclusively eating the young sliced pods more like a 'mangetout pea', calling them runner beans.

But it seems lots of cultures eat theature bean seeds too, made edible as with the removal of lectins from red kidney beans e.g. a long soak, a minimum 10 mins hard boil, and then a long simmer in fresh water.

Exciting! Anyone here found any variation in the flavours of the cooked beans from the visibly different colours & patterns of seeds? Thank you!

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Ac Baker

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posted 10 months ago

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I have managed to save a fair number of runner bean seeds, from a scarlet flower variety with black & lilac mottled seed that are like the "standard" runner beans my family grew here in England when I was little.

Today, I finished mulching some of the runner bean roots to overwinter in situ.

I dug up seven of the plants to overwinter in a frost-free shed.

You can see in the picture, none of the tubers are very big. We had drought from early March to late August which won't have helped. I wonder if the plants will be more drought-tolerant in the second year?

PXL_20251127_125600389.jpg

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Eino Kenttä

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posted 10 months ago

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I just now went through the "bargains" section of a Swedish seed company website (always a dangerous place), found three varieties of runner beans, remembered this thread, and felt "okay, let's give it a try." So next year I'll be growing runner beans. It would be just great if they could overwinter. Probably they won't in our climate, but one never knows until one tries, no?

And Ac, please do report the results of your experiment next year! I'm very curious.

Lucy Care

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posted 9 months ago

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I was taking down my daughter's runner beans in Newcastle (northern England UK) and the tubers were bigger than often mine are. It seemed a waste not to try keeping them. She has put them in the shed as they can have very cold winters.
I think that the tubers were large as the plants were growing strongly in well-manured ground.

Ac Baker

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posted 2 months ago

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Eino Kenttä wrote:I just now went through the "bargains" section of a Swedish seed company website (always a dangerous place), found three varieties of runner beans, remembered this thread, and felt "okay, let's give it a try." So next year I'll be growing runner beans.

How are your runner beans doing?

Eino Kenttä wrote:And AC, please do report the results of your experiment next year! I'm very curious.

Well, I've learned a lot .. The ones I left in the ground, seem to have got too wet & rotted away. The ones which I put into pots in the shed, got too hot in the unseasonable heat we got in April, and shriveled.

Only the seeds which I shaved have grown. But, I've had success with overwintering yacón in compost on a shady windowsill in my house. So, this winter I plan to try overwintering some Phaseolus coccineus tubers in the same way!

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Joao Winckler

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posted 2 months ago

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My ones in the polytunnel have come back two years running, never lifted them, just left them under a layer of straw over winter. The ones I tried keeping in a shed rotted pretty quickly. Starting to think the polytunnel just keeps them barely frost-free enough without the soil drying out completely.

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Ac Baker

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That makes sense. I don't have access to a polytunnel unfortunately.

I didn't pull back the mulch in Spring, thinking I might damage or over-expose the shoots, which may have contributed to the failing from rot or smothering.

I just found this article, which seems to cover the options quite well: https://gardentopia.eu/overwintering-scarlet-runner-beans-in-mild-and-protected-gardens/

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Chance Lunceford

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posted 2 weeks ago

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I purchased all the varieties of runner bean seeds I could find for sale in the US of A this summer. I'm going to scan again once the seed catalogs are restocked and updated.

I'm looking to produce a reliably perennial runner bean through this process. I grew runner beans at my previous yarden, and they overwintered once, but never again.

We'll see how the next few years go.

I'm probably gonna try sourcing some from some of the forums, too, if I can find anyone who wants to share.

You lot in Europe have access to dozens of varieties that have not made the voyage across the pond, so you could probably do this work a lot quicker.

By the by, if anyone has some runner bean seeds they're interested in sending my way, PM me and we can see if an arrangement can be made.

Cécile Stelzer Johnson

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posted 2 weeks ago

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I do grow some runner beans, but UW Madison tells me that they won't survive zone 4b unless I treat them like Dahlias, harvest the tuber and keep it in damp sand away from frost.
According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension office, you can maintain them as perennials by digging them up: [1] (https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/scarlet-runner-bean-phaseolus-coccineus/)Dig them up: In late autumn after the first light frost kills the top vine growth, carefully shovel up the underground root tubers.
Store them frost-free: Clean off excess dirt and store the tubers in a cool, dark place (like an unheated basement or root cellar) packed in cool, damp sand or lightly dampened peat moss.
Replant in spring: Wait until the soil warms up past 50°F and all danger of frost has passed in May before planting them back outside. [1] (https://www.facebook.com/learntogrowmisilla/posts/did-you-know-that-the-tubers-of-scarlet-runner-beans-are-edible-in-this-video-i-/1345001665650909/), [2] (https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/scarlet-runner-bean-phaseolus-coccineus/), [3] (https://www.getgrowli.app/overwintering/scarlet-runner-bean), [4] (https://www.stclareseeds.com/product/scarlet-runner-bean-seeds/)
I'm intrigued and I'm crazy enough to try it! If I were to winter over some of these tubers, would they grow more beans? If not, the seed is cheap enough to not bother.
Or is the tuber edible? in which case I'd still try.

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posted 2 weeks ago

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Ac Baker wrote:
Well, I've learned a lot .. The ones I left in the ground, seem to have got too wet & rotted away. The ones which I put into pots in the shed, got too hot in the unseasonable heat we got in April, and shriveled.

Only the seeds which I shaved have grown. But, I've had success with overwintering yacón in compost on a shady windowsill in my house. So, this winter I plan to try overwintering some Phaseolus coccineus tubers in the same way!

Oh, okay, if they have a problem with wet winters, they'll most likely not overwinter at our place, like ever. My plants grew, but never flowered. Guess I shouldn't expect too much from a year like this, though. Apparently, it's the coldest/wettest summer since 1981 in our area, so yeah, I'll just write it off as a lost year and try again next year. Plus, even with all that, they did grow...

May Gardner

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I'm trying lots of different kinds of runner and half-runner beans this year, more next year as I got a late start this time due to lack of water issues. Not sure if half-runners would have this potential as well.

I'm not up for digging them or bringing them inside, as it's more work than I want to do with it, so they'll have to overwinter in place. I'm curious to see if they will resprout next year now though.

There's potential for it work and not work here because of the temperature shifts we get each day.. It gets down to single digits by morning for a month or two here, but it gets 50-60 degrees (F) warmer during the day, so it can be 10 n the morning and 70 in the mid-afternoon... This means they wouldn't stay frozen if/when they freeze, which could be good or bad... we'll see!

Ac Baker

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May Gardner wrote:I'm trying lots of different kinds of runner and half-runner beans this year, more next year as I got a late start this time due to lack of water issues. Not sure if half-runners would have this potential as well.

I'd not heard of the term 'half-runner' beans before. By 'runner bean', I specifically mean the tuber-forming Phaseolus coccineus or 'true runner'. I checked, and 'half-runner' apparently describes the growth habit of some varieties of common beans or Phaseolus vulgaris. So I think the answer is no, only the true runners form tubers I think?

May Gardner wrote:I'm not up for digging them or bringing them inside, as it's more work than I want to do with it, so they'll have to overwinter in place. I'm curious to see if they will resprout next year now though.

I hear you. But I'm pretty certain they're only a replant perennial for us, as are yacón and potatoes. So for me, it's worthwhile for some crops that I love (the ones I've named) and not for others!

May Gardner wrote:There's potential for it work and not work here because of the temperature shifts we get each day.. It gets down to single digits by morning for a month or two here, but it gets 50-60 degrees (F) warmer during the day, so it can be 10 n the morning and 70 in the mid-afternoon... This means they wouldn't stay frozen if/when they freeze, which could be good or bad... we'll see!

From what I know, the true runner bean tubers are not frost hardy either. So if the ground is going to be water-logged or frozen, they won't survive unfortunately.

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May Gardner

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Correct, 'half-runner' applies to many varieties, the commonality being they have ~3-10' long runners.

I am growing actual runner beans too. No chance of the soil being waterlogged, lol, but it could freeze for a few hours a day/night and then thaw during the day. The freeze/thawing can do a number on some plants, but some are fine with it and just choose to grow at times of the day when the temp is right for them.

I've had quite a few surprises about what will grow when I didn't think it would, so we'll see.

Overall, I'm thinking if they don't overwinter on their own, then saving seeds is the way I'd want to go.

Ac Baker

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Indeed, I am growing runner beans from my own saved seeds this year. This is what I was raised to do. The seeds are what I considered typical when I watched my elders sowing them: black mottled with lilac:

2025-10-Saved-Runner-Bean-Seeds.jpg

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