Hi everyone. This is my very first post. I am establishing a new vegetable garden and planning for pole beans, both limas and green. What in your opinion, are the best poles, in terms of longevity and strength? We have some stout bamboo (1.5"diameter), but I have doubts about its ability to withstand a heavy crop of beans. I live in mid-Delaware.
JJ
best poles for limas
You are right, bamboo does not stand up to use year after year. However 1 1/2 inch bamboo, until it weathers and splits is strong enoght to hold beans whether as straight poles or arranged as tepees.
Not sure if they are available in your area but you might look around or ask your feed and seed store to get you a bundle of tobacco stakes. They are perfect stakes for beans and lots of other things. One end is pointed and just just hammer them into the soil.
I made a collapsible a-frame from cedar 8ft 1x8s. Ripped on a table saw into 3/4x3/4 strips, cut two in half to screw each 4ft length to 4 long pieces (one about the middle another about 6in from the end). I evenly spaced the 4 long pieces under the cross pieces, for each side. 8 screws held the cross pieces to the long parts, 1 at each intersection.
By placing the cross members on the outside I was able to connect the pairs with 4 more screws, one for each pair. It folds for storage and will enter its third season this year.
Total cost less than $15. The best part is that any single part is replaceable.
I just pushed each side into the soil about a foot, then by tying a nylon rope to the outside top pairs and driving some rebar stakes at an oblique angle to the frame about 4ft from the open ends, it was anchored. Took several beatings from wind and rain every year - never toppled.
JJ,
I used metal conduit and a conduit bender to make bean trellises. My trellises are in a series of raised beds and are about 4-6 feet long. They last many years if you can bend the conduit or get someone to bend it for you.
The cross piece on the top is bent down about 8 inches on each end. The uprights are as long as need be to poke into the ground and hold the cross piece a sufficient level above the garden. The uprights just poke about 8-10 inches into the ground and connect to the cross piece with a conduit connecter at each end. Kind of like a big upside down capital letter"U" or an oversized croquet loop.
I then hang several strands of jute or used twine from the cross piece to ground level and tie them loosely to a piece of scrap lumber (or some left over short pieces of conduit) for a few days until the vines start twining. If you live in a freeze zone, pull them before the first freeze or drill a small hole near ground level in each upright. We had a rain followed by a freeze one year and the water in the uprights froze and split them just above ground level.
dgwm
I use four 2"x2" x 7' precut lumber purchased cheaply @ the hardware store. I lay them on the ground side by side & wrap and secure heavy twine or wire around the posts about 1 ft from the top. I then stand the poles upright and spread the untied ends of the "legs" out to form the base. I've anchored the legs different ways depending on what I have on hand. I've buried the legs in the ground, but that makes the teepee a bit shorter and the wood rots. I've secured wire or twine to the top of the legs & ran it parallel between the legs to the ground and secured with tent stakes. The beans can also run up the wire or twine. I've also attached tent stakes to the legs to secured them.
We've had some pretty bad storms the past few summers & I haven't lost a teepee yet. At the end of the season, I pull up the stakes & fold the 4 legs up & store until next season.
I don't plant on the northside so that I can step inside the teepee to harvest. My little granddaughter enjoys hiding under the teepees. : )