Pole beans

What's a good varity for the desert clime? When would you plant?

I have great success with Kwintus and Smerelda, both which I order from Park's. I like them because no matter how big you let them get they never get stringy and tough. Both are heavy producers.

Heat and humidity are way different here and there. That may not mean anything with pole beans, except maybe a shorter season. I tried them last year for the first time and had unimpressive results, but I didn't tend the garden well, so it probably wasn't a fair test. My wife really likes them, and I imagine that home garden ones are better then super market ones.

This message was edited Feb 12, 2012 8:15 PM

I do not know how they will do in your climate, but Kentucky Wonder pole beans have a very good flavor. They do great here in TN in our heat and humidity.

Thanks, Blueberry.

Kentucky Wonder does well, but you have to either start them early or late to miss the hottest months.

I'm curious tarheel, do you have a sandy soil or clay?

I sowed KY Wonders this evening.

They've been soaking in a cup of water with a capful of Hyrdogen Peroxide since Monday night. Some had a little nub growing already.

Linda

We're not warm enough yet, I think. Days are warm, otftem in the 60s, but nights are still in the mid-30s and we're very likely to have another frost or two.

Have you tried Asian Long Beans? They do great here and we love them. Just a thought

Tarheel, You can get a jump on the beans by sowing your beans in a cold frame, indoors or in a seed greenhouse like the one in my blog @ http://mrbsgarden.blogspot.com/. I have Kentucky Wonder and a bush type yard long bean starting in my greenhouse, along with squash, tomatoes, peppers, corn, sunflowers and herbs. The 4 shelf unit I built can hold seed trays with up to 400 cells. If it gets too cold, you can cover it with a blanket or two at night. Yesterday only got up to 63 or so,but the greenhouse was @ 85 at the peak of the day.

This message was edited Feb 16, 2012 12:08 PM

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This message was edited Feb 16, 2012 7:52 PM

This message was edited Feb 16, 2012 7:53 PM

This message was edited Feb 16, 2012 7:53 PM

Corrected the link, you can try it again if you'd like.

Hmmm . . . .

Still get the same error screen and message.

It should work now.

Tarheel...I've been told by some growers in the dry, windy, hot areas of the west and northwest that many pole bean plants just don't get the water they need and tend to dry out to much. Like frogymom mentioned growing them either early or late will help alleviate that problem. Here in your old state of NC pole beans do well and may slow down from the heat but they don't suffer from the low humidity like out west. This being said I would think a lower growing pole bean, an early maturing variety, and perhaps growing one in a more sheltered area (from winds and intense full sun) might do you justice.

I've started bush beans in cell packs and transplanted them, as I've done with peas, beets, chard, and other "do not transplant well"plants and have had excellent results. With pole beans keep in mind they have a definite tap root so a large cell or pot or earlier set-out would be to your advantage for an early crop, and that includes hardening them off well before setting out.

Lastly, frogymoms link needs to get rid of the . (dot/period) at the end of 'com' for the link to work. You might try clicking the link and when it doesn't come up go to the URL line and highlight it, then remove the "./" (without the quotes).

Shoe

Thanks, Horseshoe.

There's my UBER! Where 'yah been? No matter, you're here now!

I started some Kentucky Wonder Pole beans in individual 8 oz. yogurt cups, Tuesday night. I left the remaining 7 seeds in the cup, changed out the water, and added another capful of H202, since they hadn't "declared" anything. Well, this morning they were singing the Star Spangled Banner! Which means, I'd better get them sown tonight!

Anyway, as I stated above, I have NEVER, EVER, grown a bean. I truly do not mind anyone taking me by the hand at this point and walking me through this process....

So far, the 7 seeded cups are nestled comfortably in a flat that's in a large plastic drawstring baggie, just until they declare (again, since that little nubbie was a walk to the podium...)

Soon as I see some greenery, I'll pull the baggie off and shove them under the awaiting lights. How long should I be growing them under the lights? Til the weather gets warm outside? til the Soil warms up? How tall should they be when I bring them out to harden them off? I'm planning on growing these beans in a 5 or 6.5 gallon bucket with a plastic poultry cage wrapped around as a trellis. Will that work, or will I need another type of trellis behind the buckets?

lmk.

Linda

How's this for a thought?

I need a bit of info to make this work, which is: how long after seeding will they grow to a height of two feet?

I'll plant a dozen or so bean plants in the north end of my little green house at the right time so that when they've grown a copuple feet and risk of frost is low, I'll pill a couple of panels and train them to continue to grow outside>

In my experience Pole Beans are not as finicky as most people think. I have grown them very successfully in New England, Florida and now Washington state. Humidity or winds don't bother them much- there may be some ragged leaves after a windstorm, but my only real enemy was and is Spider mites. If you don't examine daily the damage will be terrible overnight! I use a fine mister on a long handle water wand, and get up under the foliage regularly. Good air flow and circulation is a must. Don't grow them against a solid fence, or you will be real sorry! They love the heat, and can take some shade in the hot summer. With good watering practices, anyone should be able to grow them.

What did you use on the spider mites? I have found them to be the hardest part about growing beans too. I grow the long beans because they seem less bothered by the SM and my kids love them but I've never had any trouble growing the other type either.

Sometime I spray Pyrethrin, but mostly I use homemade spray with liquid dish soap, hot sauce and a little cooking oil. If you can be dedicated with water misting especially on the under sides of ALL the leaves, you can keep the mites down so they don't do fatal damage.

"In my experience Pole Beans are not as finicky as most people think."

I agree. I don't think they're finicky at all. I have great success with them in my area. I can't imagine a garden w/out them

"Humidity or winds don't bother them much- there may be some ragged leaves after a windstorm, but my only real enemy was and is Spider mites. "

Mercy, I feel for ya, Jo. I only get a few spider mites on my roses and a few other perennials. Yuck if they get my beans! Those have to be some of the worst bugs that a person has to deal with, well, except for squash bugs! Double-yuck~! As for humidity and pole beans, no problem here either but in an earlier post I was pointing out a lack of humidity is a terrible thing for pole beans. Apparently the excessively dry climate of AZ/Tx, even as far north as Oregon, the air is so dry that the pole plants suffer cus their foliage is so high in the air they are easily dessicated. If there isn't an ample consistent supply of water (common in those areas) they tend to dry out much more than a lower growing plant. The lack of moisture in the air and the wind seems to contribute to that. I guess I should be glad we have high humidity in NC cus I gotta have my pole beans! :>)

tarheel, starting your plants in a ghouse sounds like a good thing. Maybe in there you can keep an ample water supply to the roots since they will be out of direct sun, eh? I think I'd go for that!

Shoe (getting too tired to post, off to rest a bit. Back later)

I have a feeling what everybody in these dry areas is seeing on their beans is what Jo already mentioned, Spidet Mites. They make the plant look like it's just drying up, and they love our climate. Like Jo mentioned they can take out beans literally overnight. So not only do they love our climate the damage they do mimics the effects of our climate. Texas is not all humid.

I use Neem oil on them if I have to. I direct sow and they grow really fast but can't take a frost.

Tar-I can't think of a variety that didn't do well here but the SM have to be taken care of immediately or the beans will be gone. I'm really beginning to wonder if it is your climate or an early infestation of SM.

Hi, Ya'll!

My KY Wonder Pole beans have grown to about 5" tall in the drinking water bottles, and have one set of two leaves (1 set) past the bean. They are under the fluorescent lights, and I'm wondering if I started them too soon here, since they like it hot out.

At what point should I transplant them outside to the buckets?

Thanks!