Pole beans on a pole?

[garden5]

Here is a question: can you trellis pole beans using a common pole (stake)?

I know that there are countless methods to trellis just about anything that has vines, but, given their name, how to you think that pole beans would do with a pole to each plant? How tall should the pole be?

Thanks for your input.

[zone9garden.com]

You sure can... The pole should be about 6' tall. I use bamboo!

[jal_ut]

Yes. I go up along the river and cut willow poles about six feet long. Pretty inexpensive.

[Marlingardener]

I use juniper poles--lots of ash junipers around here, and we trimmed up some big ones. The poles are rough so are easy for the beans to cling to, and vary between 6' and 7'.
If your poles are smooth, you might want to wrap them spirally with rope to give the beans something to hold onto.

[applestar]

I think most pole beans need supports that are about 7' high ABOVE ground. A teepee rather than a single pole per plant would be better because the more vigorous pole beans grow side shoots, plus the entire mass can get pretty heavy.

[nes]

I think most pole beans need supports that are about 7' high ABOVE ground. A teepee rather than a single pole per plant would be better because the more vigorous pole beans grow side shoots, plus the entire mass can get pretty heavy.

And more fun! Make sure you leave a door-way

[jal_ut]

I found a picture of willow bean poles.
The one has a scarlett runner bean growing on it. You can see how the vine just wraps around the pole.

Left side you can see a trellis for some pole beans that are just getting started climbing. I had two rows of beans and put the poles about 2 feet apart and tied four together at the top. This helps them stand up against the wind. Then I put one horizontal too. Makes a good inexpensive trellis. The poles can be used for several years.

[applestar]

I LOVE this picture!! There is a strong sense of the Scarlet Runner reaching for that blue, blue sky, and the gorgeous color of the blossoms just POP

[Zapatay]

Great photo - Thanks Jal

[garden5]

Thanks for the affirmations on the poles. I hears a few say that you may lose some yield due to the plant not producining many side-shoots.

How about tying a few cross-members on the poles to allevieate this?

It would look like +
+
+ (one pole).

[jal_ut]

I think side shoots may be more a function of variety and how fertile the soill is, than the trellis.

[kath]

I use 3 plastic covered metal poles from Walmart tied together to make a teepee and let the beans climb up. They need some encouraging in the beginning- you can tie them or just help them to wind around the poles once they are long enough.

[Gary350]

1/2" cement rebar works great for pole beans. It comes in 20 ft lengths cut it in 3 pieces. Stap it in the ground 4 pole about 3 ft apart on each square corner. Bring the tops of the poles together and tie them together with rope or wire at about 6 or so feet high. Plant about 8 beans at each pole in a circle around the pole. They are easy to pick it won't hurt your back bending over. A trellis will work great. I planted pole beans on a 6 ft fence once 30 years ago it worked great.

[garden5]

1/2" cement rebar works great for pole beans. It comes in 20 ft lengths cut it in 3 pieces. Stap it in the ground 4 pole about 3 ft apart on each square corner. Bring the tops of the poles together and tie them together with rope or wire at about 6 or so feet high. Plant about 8 beans at each pole in a circle around the pole. They are easy to pick it won't hurt your back bending over. A trellis will work great. I planted pole beans on a 6 ft fence once 30 years ago it worked great.

Gary brings up a good point: how many beans do you plant to a pole? I was originally thinking one, but now I'm wondering if I can't get away with three.

[kath]

I let 5 or 6 grow up each of 3 poles in a teepee using Fortex beans and found that they produced fine but for me it was too dense a planting and I found it a bit difficult to harvest-think I will try spreading them out along a trellis for better sun/airflow/easier harvest.