Kitchen Garden Forum

Just an update on the Moonlight beans - they cropped well and then had a rest and now have put on another show of flowers and new beans. There seems to be no stopping them.

Definitely a bean to treasure.

Hello Diane, mine are cropping very well too, loads of flowers still, a nice bean, but not as long a bean as my Wisley Magic beans, which on balance I prefer because they grow longer and are still tender when quite large as long as the beans haven't formed. Both moonlight and Wisley Magic flowered and produced very well though. I am letting some seed set on the Wisleys so I have seed for next year, does anyone know if moonlight seed can be saved ? I may grow both again.

I have just ordered two packets of Moonlight this very evening, as i can see there might be a shortage of seed this year, due to their popularity.

Don't know the answer to saving the seed, Nature's Babe.

Thanks OH, maybe i will buy one packet and save some seed too, then I will be able to see if they differ.

oldherbaceous wrote:I have just ordered two packets of Moonlight this very evening, as i can see there might be a shortage of seed this year, due to their popularity.

Don't know the answer to saving the seed, Nature's Babe.

Suttons, Marshalls and T&M are all offering it this year. Saving seed ought to be easy for this variety, given that it is self-pollinating. When saving seed of runner beans, there is always a risk of them getting cross-pollinated with neighbouring varieties. The chance of this is all but eliminated with this variety. If there are any pods left on your plants now that are a good size, leave them longer to turn brown and ripen. The seeds inside ought to be just right for drying and storing. Runner beans can keep growing right up the end of October.

Thank you Felix, I have been picking them regularly while young, so no seed to save yet, I will leave a few and hope they ripen before the snow comes.