Rairdog
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Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:46 pm
Location: Noblesville, IN Zone 5

Pole Bean questions

Last year I tried pole beans in a new spot just for an experiment. The spot is next to gravel carport so I didn't think it would work well with all the lime. It is actually on the property line so I had to get the neighbors permission. It face SSE so I knew it would get blazed in the late summer. I figured what do I have to loose besides a few seeds and some sweat.

I dug a 1 ft deep by 1 ft wide trench through the grass, clover, weeds and mucky gravel mix. Then I filled it with 1/2 immature mulch and topsoil. Threw in some organic fertilizer and KENTUCKY WONDER rust resistant seeds not expecting much. They took off like wildfire and kept on going higher and higher. The posts were already there from the deck so all I had to do was run some screws and string. Then I had to add more and more string higher and higher.

This is an early picture. They ended up growing over 9 ft(bottom of deck) and I trained them back down a couple feet. The section on the right were planted a week or two later to stagger harvest. We picked picked a gallon bag every couple days and I still have more in the freezer than I can use. The neighbor had a hay day picking them also.
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By late summer rust (I think) set in.
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NOW for the questions. I've googled my but off and have not found an answer.

What soil or other amends can I do to avoid rust(if that's what it is) and eliminate crop rotation because the fixed nitrogen in the soil? I want to do it again because it is otherwise a wasted spot IMO.

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hendi_alex
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Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina

I wonder if rotating varieties will help with disease tolerance. I plant my beans in the same beds year after year and have seen no decline in quality of the plants. If worried about nutrient imbalance, why not just add some organic sources for phosphorus and potassium? Probably just amending with compost would be adequate, or surface mulch with some organic material.

Rairdog
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Posts: 373
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:46 pm
Location: Noblesville, IN Zone 5

I was thinking of adding phosphorus and potassium also. I have had a decline in bush beans in the garden even though I move them around. If it is rust I figured the new spot would be safe. I even had it in the aquaponics system on the deck above from the same seeds.
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shadylane
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Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:42 am
Location: North Central Illinois

I have to agree, a phosphorus deficiency does give that red purplish color to plant leaves and stems. which in short supply of phosphorus, causes plants to make more sugars which is trapped in the leaves giving the red color. Without phosphorus plant growth is stunted along with productivity.

Potassium is potash so look into those groups that contain potash, such as wood ash it leashes out quickly into the soil.

Beans give off nitrogen naturally to the soil, and tends to improve fertility. It is a good idea to plant them else where after one year two years at the most in the same spot.

I don't see rust fungi occurring. Rust forms underneath the plant leaves and becomes reddish brown.
High humidity and soils with excessively high in nitrogen will promote and encourage Fungi Rust spores.

Also a excess of nitrogen (chemically manufactured), will leave your plants defenseless against disease and the inability to reach the nutrients needed from the soil.



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