Pole Beans vs Bush Beans

LittleBee · Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:02 pm

Which do you prefer? I planted bush beans last year and only had 1 good bush come up so am contemplating pole beans this year in another area of my yard.

jal_ut · Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:01 pm

I prefer bush beans.

Only one came up? That is weird. You must have had something odd going on that your seed would not germinate. Wet cool weather is not good for germinating beans. Warm weather and warm soil is good. Plant the seed an inch deep.

Did you get fresh seed to plant?

I hope you do better this year. Beans are usually easy. They are also the best garden value. Just check the price of green beans in the market and you will see what I mean. That is if you can even find any.

!potatoes! · Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:25 pm

I've had good luck with both, though a lot more productivity from pole beans...the flat-pod italian pole beans seem to taste...richer somehow, too.

lheartl · Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:48 pm

I am trying both this year, and so far (knock on wood) I've gotten great results.

This was taken on April 5th:
[img]https://larrybosworth.com/img/v8/p976877996-2.jpg[/img]

And this one was taken on April 18th.
[img]https://larrybosworth.com/img/v7/p450277722-2.jpg[/img]

LittleBee · Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:39 pm

Again this year this is the only bush coming up so far.

[img]https://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc12/LittleBee08/Garden/CRW_8953.jpg[/img]

tfoals · Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:31 pm

This is my first garden and I'm trying bush beans. I figured it would be easyer if we didn't have to worry about something for them to climb. I haven't got mine planted yet. I guess if they germinate better when it's warm I'll be ok. Don't feel bad littlebee your not the only one. I've got a 12% germination rate with all the seeds I started indoors.

LittleBee · Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:59 pm

Ha! I think with the seeds I started indoors I probably have about the same rate! Only the zucchini made it!

!potatoes! · Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:59 pm

by april 18th they'd turned into peas!?! amazing.

that low germination rate is strange, all right. if you're not waiting until the soil has warmed a bit, could do it. some varieties are marketed as being resistant to fungal problems that usually happen with cooler soil. 'Provider', a bush bean, I've seen catalogs talk up in that way, there's undoubtedly others.

LittleBee · Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:04 pm

I believe I planted my bush beans too early outside. Maybe the ground was too cold. I may replant in a week or so.

Of the indoor starts most of them went limp and I think they had the fungus that I've heard people talk about on here. Too much moisture or something.

YAY Horsies · Thu Apr 30, 2009 3:06 am

I started my bush beans in peat moss plugs which I put in a little mini-greenhouse type of thing and they all germinated wonderfully...perhaps it was because they were able to stay warmer? more moist?

Gerrie · Sat May 30, 2009 1:15 am

I planted my bush bean seeds about 10 days ago. Two came up and birds removed them from the ground, darn. So I covered them with white season extender cloth and no more have come up. One of my friends says you're not supposed to water them after the initial planting and watering. Has anyone ever heard of that?

freedhardwoods · Sat May 30, 2009 8:33 am

I scattered about 1/4 lb of bush bean seed and tilled it in about 5 weeks ago and had 2 plants come up. I have used this method for wide row planting before with good results. Last weekend I re-tilled that small area (2 plants aren't worth saving) and a good portion more and used my row planter to plant over 1 lb of bean seed in 4 rows 6" apart. After waiting a few days they all "exploded" out of the ground in one day. One evening there was hardly any sign of them, and the next evening they were 1 1/2" tall. I am pretty sure the weather was too damp and cold the first time. This is one of the wettest springs we have had for a long time.

One thing I am still trying to get used to is so many people here talk about planting 10 or 20 seeds of something. I buy seed by the pound.

Gerrie wrote:One of my friends says you're not supposed to water them after the initial planting and watering. Has anyone ever heard of that?

I never water anything anytime unless we have extreme summer heat/drought conditions. The one exception is tomatoes. I "drown" them when I set them out and then water them once more a day or two later if it doesn't rain. Everything else gets planted dry.

Gerrie · Sat May 30, 2009 2:28 pm

Wow, I never heard of planting and not watering! I think I may have drowned my beans. If they don't sprout in a day or two, I'll plant again.

In southern Oregon the summers are very dry and somewhat hot. Watering is a must beginning in June. We haven't had rain in a couple weeks and it's poosible we won't see rain again til Oct. (good for vinyards)

I hold back water on tomatoes til they need it but keep most of the other crops moist.

How much acreage do you have if you buy seed by the pound? I planted about two dozen bean seeds, twenty six tomatoes, enough of everything else for a few families at most. Do you sell your produce?

freedhardwoods · Sat May 30, 2009 3:56 pm

I have about 6,400 sq ft this year, which is more than last year. I planted about 2 lbs of sweet corn and when I am done, I will have about 3 lbs of green beans planted. The corn and beans take about 2/3 of my garden space. I plant 2 to 3 times thicker than most sources recommend with very good results.

I will be selling some of the beans and corn this year. I am thinking about really gearing up for next year and put out a lot more to sell. I am thinking about trying to put out 1/2 to 1 acre. I will have to wait and see if everything will come together to do it. I have a really old 2 row farm planter that I could repair and use for that much ground.

I don't want to hijack this thread. This is where you can see my gardens progress this year if you are interested. https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14986

pepper4 · Sat May 30, 2009 4:53 pm

Littlebee, don't give up on your beans. I went with bush beans for lack of room and it SEEMED like they weren't going to grow well if at all and then all of a sudden I started to see them sprout. At first 1 or 2 and then all of a sudden I saw life from most all I planted. They are about 6 inches plus now. Hang in there, you might be surprised

Gerrie · Sat May 30, 2009 5:32 pm

Wow, freedhardwoods, you are ambitious! I like that farm planter, how does it work? Is there a equipment blog? I'd love to see what everyone favors most for gardening tools. Two of my green beans sprouted today! There's hope!

I froze at least 10 one gallon baggies of green beans last summer from about 12 plants. That's in addition to eating them in the summer too. I figure I'll plant more if these get going first, like to do them in stages, makes the harvesting and blanching, etc. easier on me.

Hang in there, busybee, it'll happen.