I managed to get the pole beans planted last weekend before the latest rains came. I’m using the same trellising method I’ve used for the past few years. I have metal t-posts I set about ten feet apart, with bamboo poles set in between the metal ones for extra support. Then I run a poly rope down the top of the posts to keep the trellis from sagging. I’m using 59″ Hortonova trellis material, which has a 6″ by 7″ opening. It is secured to the posts and poly rope using coated Twist Tie Garden Wire. These ties are reusable, and I’m on my third season for some of them.
pole bean trellis
I have about a 40 foot run of pole beans, and I can get the trellis up in an hour or less. This setup has served me well the last few years, and has held up to the loads of vines and beans without falling over or sagging. You can read more details about how I put up the trellis here: Trellising the Pole Beans.
bamboo poles are set between the metal ones
This year I have three of my favorite snap beans planted (Fortex, Musica and Gold Marie) plus a new purple podded one called Trionfo Violetto. I’m also trying two Appalachian heirloom beans called Lazy Wife Greasy and Robe Mountain. For dry pole beans I’m growing Cherokee Trail of Tears and Good Mother Stallard.
Cherokee Trail of Tears beans coming up
The soil was plenty warm when I planted the seeds, over 65°F, but then the weather turned cooler. I was concerned some of the seed might rot before it came up, but I noticed this morning some of them are starting to sprout. The forecast calls for the weather to warm up to more seasonal temps, which means highs near 80°F for the Memorial Day weekend. That should help get the seeds up and growing. It’s rained almost every day since they were planted, two inches in all, so at least I didn’t have to do any watering to get them up! Once the beans are up a few inches tall I will weed around them and them mulch with straw.
Forty feet of beans sounds like a lot. Do you reuse the trellis material? It sounds like a lot of work to remove the vines from it. I just got my beans into the garden yesterday. The weather here has been cool and foggy for pretty much the entire month but the soil is staying a nice warm 70º. Looking forward (hah!) to temps in the 60’s for the weekend with more fog.
I have tried to get the dried vines off but it wasn’t worth the effort to me. So I put new material on. I bought a big 328 ft roll from PVFS that will last me for several seasons.
That’s sounds like the way I buy lightweight agribon, by the big roll. I grow my beans up remesh trellises, it’s not that difficult to pull and cut the bean vines off of it, but on the other hand, I’m not growing 40 feet of beans…
Wow 40′ of beans is a lot of beans. How much is dried and how much is fresh?
About half and half.
Hi Dave,
It looks great!
The netting you use looks a lot like what I use for cucumbers – it’s surprisingly strong, considering how thin it is. Last year I used jute attached to a conduit trellis & bamboo poles for the beans and it worked great, especially as I wanted something I could just tear down & put in the compost – those bean vines get so entwined in the trellis! Mind you, I’m only growing an 8′ section of beans. If I had to string a 40′ row with jute every year, I would definitely go for your much easier to assemble solution.
Super thrilled to read about this Hortonova trellis material. I had no idea it existed. This may sound weird (probably?) but I’ve been looking for cheap versions of badminton nets or something similar. I just didn’t want to have to create my own mesh from twine.