What is a half runner bean?

I see bush beans, pole beans and half runner beans in my seed catalog. Nothing there to tell me what it is or if it needs support. I suspect my tendergreen variety might be half runners, they flop all over the place and get lots of sun so they can't be needing light. I planted 4 rows and now have one w-i-d-e row that hardly gives me a place to put my feet when I pick them.

A half runner is just about that,Mary. They don't have the rampant vines of the traditional runners.Now when we speak of 'runners' and 'half runners' we are talking about what the rest of the world calls 'french beans'.

Europeans term beans into just two classes...runners and french. What we grow are not actual runner beans. Totally different botanical classification.But try to tell that to someone who has called them runner,pole,or stick beans.

Our runner beans are known as 'phaseolus vulgaris' their runner beans are known as 'phaseolus coccineus'.They will not cross with each other,and the European bean twins in the opposite direction and puts down a large taproot.

Thanks. I'm guessing then that a half runner is not as neat and compact a plant as bush beans and has more stem and leaves but doesn't really want to climb a pole or fence so it just needs extra room to sprawl a bit. Is there an advantage to them, for instance yielding more than a bush type?

They should climb,just not over the roof.

I like all sorts of runners because you can give them support and not have to bend into a pretzel to harvest them.

Depends on the variety as to production,some bush types will out do some runners...just as the opposite will happen.

LOL Mel, I stood on my head yesterday picking my bush beans!

Production is spread out a little better with the runner types too. In my experience,the bush types have a shorter window for fruiting.You get more beans in a shorter amount of time.

I like my harvest spread out over the summer in smaller,more manageable amounts.

I think I may have found a use for my old tomato cages. They are home made from woven field fencing, too small in diameter, and so I've made some new ones. If they were layed end to end next to the bean row the beans would have something to keep them off the ground. What do you think? I hate to throw things away when they might be useful for something.

Mary,

You're suffering from the confusion inherent in any beans lexicon. Let me try and straighten it out.

The word "runner" when applied to beans has two meanings. There are actual runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus), which are a tropical perennial. And there are common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) which "run," that is, grow climbing vines. Most people call those types "pole" or "stick" beans.

Half-runners are vining beans that do not grow as long as some more traditional types. Thus, Trail of Tears, to pick one example, produces vines that run ten to 12 feet long. Half runners, on the other hand, only run six or eight feet, depending on variety.

The thing to remember is that they still do run, and should be supported just like any other pole bean.

While some heirloom half-runners are good choices, most half-runners have been hybridized to death, and quickly turn woody and tough. You're really better off with any of the thousands of other varieties.

None of these should be confused with non-running beans, which are typically called "bush" or "bunch" varieties. Many of those do put out short runners (my Bailey's Six Week bean, for instance, has runners about 16 inches long). But, in general, they are self-supporting.

There are other differences as well. Bunch beans, as a rule, are determinate and come in all at once over about a two week period. This is great if you want to can a lot of beans. Some varieties will put out a second, and even a third flush. But each of the succeeding ones is smaller.

Pole beans, on the other hand, are indeterminate. So they continue to produce new flowers and pods until frost kills them, so long as you keep them picked back.

In many cases, there are both bush and pole versions of the same variety. So which to grow is a matter of weighing what your needs are, against the difficulty harvesting bush types (which are ideal for mechanical harvesting, but hard on your back and knees).

Thank you for the great information. While picking my beans today I was thinking maybe I should try the pole variety again. Ooof. My grandpa always grew Kentucky Wonders. I have tried Kwintis which at the time was called something else.

Kentucky Wonder (originally called Old Homestead) is a great choice for a commercial bean. But there are other heirlooms that are even better (Tobacco Worm comes immediatly to mind, as do any of the greasies).

The trick to any pole bean is to keep them picked. So long as you do, the vines will continue setting flowers and pods. Once you stop, the vine quickly reaches it's maximum biomass and begins putting it's energy into seed growth.

Ok, now tell me about the greasies, funny name I think. Never heard of Tobacco Worm beans, tell me more. How would any of these do in a hot and dry environment that tends to dry out pole beans?

Mary..greasy beans are very prolific. A very good yield! (Their pods are a bit "slick lookin'" hence the name greasy.

As for the Tobacco Worm...Brook turned me on to them last year (or yr before). Delicious multi-purpose bean (fresh snap, shelly, or dried).

I would love to know where I can get some seeds for the Tobacco Worm runner beans. Are these considered heirloom seeds? I prefer pole beans to bush beans - didn't realize that there were so many categories!

Mary and Eileen;

Other than collecting them yourself (impossible for Mary, barely possible for Eileen, as they are a Kentucky heirloom), there are only two sources of Tobacco Worm Beans: Me, and Bill Best at the Sustainable Mountain Agricultural Center.

If you email me (BrookBarb@aol.com) your snailmail addy I'll get my seed list to you, which has the Tobacco Worm and several other interesting heirloom varieties.

Just adding to Shoe's comments on greasy beans: As a group (there are at least a half dozen varieties and numerous lines and strains of them) they lack the fuzz that covers most bean pods. This gives them a shiny appearance, as if they'd been dipped in oil. Hence, "greasy."

Greasy beans of various types remain a favorite throughout the Appalachian states, despite the inroads of the (shudder) dreaded half-runner.

I've never grown beans in a hot/dry environment (it's hot/humid down here) so can't respond. I would imagine, though, that if you kept them well watered, and occasionally misted the vines, the would do OK.

"there are only two sources of Tobacco Worm Beans: Me, and Bill Best at the Sustainable Mountain Agricultural Center."

Not true anymore, Brook. Thanks to you I grew these out mainly for dry beans and seed stock this year.

A great bean! Don't worry, Brook, I'm gonna take extra-good care of these!

I'm glad to hear that, Shoe.

The more sources of this wonderful bean the better. I would hate to see it disappear, especially since, as you know, it took me three years of searching to obtain the seed stock.

For those of you interested, Tobacco Worm is a fairly large bean that remains tender as long as it's green. There is none of the fibrous woodiness found in, say, half runners. And it's great in all three stages.

This is the standard against which I judge all pole beans.