No luck with Pole Beans

gumbo2176 · Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:24 am

Can't figure this out. I can grow tons of Japanese Yard Longs but can't seem to get a decent crop of other pole beans. Last year the Kentucky Wonders I planted and this years crop of Blue Lake beans grew tons of foliage but produced so few beans I finally took them out this morning.

I don't think I've picked but 2-3 lbs. of beans off this variety in the last 2 months while picking 75-100 Purple Yard Longs a week that probably weigh about 4-5 lbs. I've got Yard Longs coming out my ears, so much so that some neighbors no longer want them---------kinda like zucchini.

I have some Rattlesnake Pole Bean seeds I'm thinking of putting in to see if a different variety will work. I don't think it is the soil conditions since my cucumbers are sharing 1/2 of the same long trellis and they are doing fine and my Yard Longs are on a trellis adjacent to this one with no problems.

Any ideas or suggestions would be very welcome. I'm stumped.

CharlieBear · Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:33 pm

The yard longs love heat, the others not so much. They are very hard to keep watered enough if excessive heat. You might try bush beans as a fall crop, if you have the room. Rattlesnake beans are only slightly and I mean slightly more heat tolerant than blue lake and they have that purple die issue if you want to preserve them.
I never get many yard long, not hot enough long enough, so I gave up on them this year. Bush beans are a little more reliable than pole beans, because they are quicker maturing. They would probably have done ok if they were put in quite early in the spring, even down south.

gumbo2176 · Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:46 pm

CharlieBear wrote:The yard longs love heat, the others not so much. They are very hard to keep watered enough if excessive heat. You might try bush beans as a fall crop, if you have the room. Rattlesnake beans are only slightly and I mean slightly more heat tolerant than blue lake and they have that purple die issue if you want to preserve them.
I never get many yard long, not hot enough long enough, so I gave up on them this year. Bush beans are a little more reliable than pole beans, because they are quicker maturing. They would probably have done ok if they were put in quite early in the spring, even down south.

My Yard Longs are the purple variety and they stay purple even when cooked. A couple years ago I grew a pole bean variety that got the size of Kentucky Wonders that were purple but changed color to dark green when cooked. I have no problem with purple beans staying purple.

I'm thinking I'll likely put in the Rattlesnake beans around the first week of August since we don't usually get any real cool weather down here until sometime in November. I'll see how they do since my trellis is already there and now bare. I do have the room now for bush beans but our days are in the mid to high 90's and will stay that way until around early to mid September. I plant a variety of soybeans in the early spring for Edamame and I have great success with them.

Bobberman · Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:45 pm

Plant some sunflowers on the south side of your beans for shade! Using the wood slats like a fence for the beans to climb to give shade to the beans will also work! Too much nitrogen will cause the beans not to produce!

!potatoes! · Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:27 am

the yard-long beans are a different species...I'm wondering how different their needs are from 'regular' beans...

gumbo2176 · Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:11 am

!potatoes! wrote:the yard-long beans are a different species...I'm wondering how different their needs are from 'regular' beans...

I don't know about their growing needs but they do very well in my garden when compared to the regular pole beans. Same soil, same growing conditions but vastly different results. The only thing I use to augment my soil is a lot of compost I make during the year.

I've grown very fond of the yard long varieties. I've eaten them smothered down with ham, onions, a little garlic, potatoes and carrots for a nice side dish with my meals. I've quartered them and pickled several quarts to use with Bloody Mary's, cut up in salads or to put on a relish tray when having folks over. The last time I cooked them I trimmed the ends and cut them in half, sprinkled olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, tossed them to get them evenly coated and grilled them. Absolutely delicious fixed that way.

There's not many vegetables that come out my garden that don't get grilled at some point in time. This time of year it is nice to cook outdoors and keep the heat out of the house.