Hampered by the height of beans
QCan I pinch out runner-bean plants so they grow bushy and not so high? It’s sometimes hard to harvest them with ease!
Bob and Anne Taylor, Middleton, Manchester
ADeadheading your beans won’t stop side shoots growing to 7ft (2.1m) or more and becoming entangled when they exceed support height.
The only answer to preventing a congestion of stem tips and bent pods is to lengthen the supports, which may mean that you will have to harvest them using a stepladder.
Alternatively, grow climbing French beans which, in my experience, do not climb as high as runner beans.