Pole Beans Up - Now what?

[MarkAndre]

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Frantically dumped soil on the ground and popped beans into fingerholes before the big rain event. I now have a combined sixteen feet of Rattlesnake, Tobacco Worm, and Louisiana Purple Pod with their heads up and looking around. (Meant to try Musica but it didn’t make it to the hangar on time.) The biggest and best-looking Rattlesnake has yellow edges at the tip, which I read can be the result of too much rain. Pull or no? There are plenty of emerging buddies nearby read to take its place, but I don’t want to be hasty.

[rxkeith]

don't be hasty.


keith

[MarkAndre]

don't be hasty.


keith

The course of action has been set. Thank you.

[Tormato]

You're very lucky they germinated, as very wet soil between sowing and sprouting can mean beans just rotting in the ground. White varieties take it the worst.

I always look at a weather forecast about 5 days ahead of my planting. If heavy rain is forecast, I hold off on planting. If the 10 day forecast says rain almost every day, I do some indoor starts, and may cover that garden area with plastic sheeting for several days, after sowing seeds. That is only practical for me with bush beans, as climbing structures gets in the way of covering, with pole beans.

Since they are up, they should recover fine, as long as drier conditions are coming.

[MarkAndre]

You're very lucky they germinated, as very wet soil between sowing and sprouting can mean beans just rotting in the ground. White varieties take it the worst.

I always look at a weather forecast about 5 days ahead of my planting. If heavy rain is forecast, I hold off on planting. If the 10 day forecast says rain almost every day, I do some indoor starts, and may cover that garden area with plastic sheeting for several days, after sowing seeds. That is only practical for me with bush beans, as climbing structures gets in the way of covering, with pole beans.

Since they are up, they should recover fine, as long as drier conditions are coming.

Thank you, that is great info. I will file that in the mental archives for future plantings. Considering the way they were planted, haphazardly throwing around bags of soil and compost as night fell and then jamming beans into the mix, with the bats swirling around me, I’m definitely feeling lucky.

[MarkAndre]

I sleuthed out how to post images!

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My garden is an ugly mess, but it’s what I can manage. If it produces, that’s all that really matters.

[Tormato]

How tall are the panels?

If you are only going to have access to picking from one side, having those panels leaning just a bit inward towards your picking side can make the pods more visible. The best shape would be to have panels go straight up several feet, and then arch inward, but fence posts aren't built that way.

If you are going to thin plants (roughly 6" spacing between plants would be good), wait until the vines start growing, perhaps to about 16", and select for the thickest vines possible, where they emerge from the soil. If this is your first time growing pole beans, be aware that only about the last 8" of the tip of the vine is "sticky." and wants to grab onto something. The vines will likely want to grab onto each other rather than the metal, so they might bunch up a bit. You may have to gently help wayward vines get to where they need to be. About two feet down from the tip, I will loosely tie a string around the vine and its support.

And, very important, (IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY), when looking downward at your plants, they will only spiral in a clockwise direction. So, do not attempt to force them to go in the opposite spiraling direction. If I didn't remember the direction correctly (I never write this stuff down), I've just messed up big time.

[Tormato]

Looking at an average monthly temperature chart for Houston, April and October look like the possible best months for bean production. May to September looks to be too hot, where blossoms will simply drop off the plants. Counting back about 40 days (for early varieties) to 50 days (for later varieties) from the start of April and October, might be the best time to plant. I believe that you will find out if Rattlesnake can take the heat that you may be getting, a couple of months from now.

Asian long beans (pole and the much rarer bush types) can take more heat. PM me if you'd like some.

A few growers from Texas, here at TJunction, might have the best info on the best growing conditions down there, and could verify the spiralling direction of the vines. I have no idea if a summer planting, for a fall harvest, will work.

[karstopography]

April is prime time in my experience, but pole beans (filet) tend to do pretty well if kept diligently moist until June, plus a bit of filtered light isn’t such a bad thing either when the heat bears down. I’ve had bush french filet beans produce until mid June. Flat beans are apparently less forgiving of the heat. Recommended sowing for pole beans in my county due South of Harris County (Houston) is 2/10 to 3/15 then again 7/15-9/1. I sowed this year 2/19. My bush beans sowed 9/1/2022 did fantastic and my intent is to try pole beans this late summer into fall. The Harris County planting calendar extends the Spring sowing of pole beans into April.

The official Houston Temperature guide may not be reflective of actual temperatures expected outside the city. Things cool off some away from town. Where I am, daytime highs in the spring/summer are often way lower than what the airport gauges get, thanks to the sea breeze.

[MarkAndre]

How tall are the panels?

If you are only going to have access to picking from one side, having those panels leaning just a bit inward towards your picking side can make the pods more visible. The best shape would be to have panels go straight up several feet, and then arch inward, but fence posts aren't built that way.

If you are going to thin plants (roughly 6" spacing between plants would be good), wait until the vines start growing, perhaps to about 16", and select for the thickest vines possible, where they emerge from the soil. If this is your first time growing pole beans, be aware that only about the last 8" of the tip of the vine is "sticky." and wants to grab onto something. The vines will likely want to grab onto each other rather than the metal, so they might bunch up a bit. You may have to gently help wayward vines get to where they need to be. About two feet down from the tip, I will loosely tie a string around the vine and its support.

And, very important, (IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY), when looking downward at your plants, they will only spiral in a clockwise direction. So, do not attempt to force them to go in the opposite spiraling direction. If I didn't remember the direction correctly (I never write this stuff down), I've just messed up big time.

Thank you, Tormato! I’ve grown pole beans a small handful of times, but it still feels pretty new. Your information is all new to me and sure to be helpful. Much appreciated.

The panels are only 4’, I believe, and I couldn’t manage to rig a second one higher by myself. I figure I will run twine above that. More ugly.

It was indeed getting late for beans here, part of my panic to get them in. The Rattlesnake went in later last year, so I am hopeful I will get something. The Tobacco Worm may be a total bust.

Thank you very much for the offer of the long beans! I did recently purchase seed, though I don’t know if they’re good ones. I’ll probably go with those, but what varieties do you recommend?

[MarkAndre]

April is prime time in my experience, but pole beans (filet) tend to do pretty well if kept diligently moist until June, plus a bit of filtered light isn’t such a bad thing either when the heat bears down. I’ve had bush french filet beans produce until mid June. Flat beans are apparently less forgiving of the heat. Recommended sowing for pole beans in my county due South of Harris County (Houston) is 2/10 to 3/15 then again 7/15-9/1. I sowed this year 2/19. My bush beans sowed 9/1/2022 did fantastic and my intent is to try pole beans this late summer into fall. The Harris County planting calendar extends the Spring sowing of pole beans into April.

The official Houston Temperature guide may not be reflective of actual temperatures expected outside the city. Things cool off some away from town. Where I am, daytime highs in the spring/summer are often way lower than what the airport gauges get, thanks to the sea breeze.

You are probably right about it being cooler in my location. We are out a bit beyond Tomball, just into Montgomery County. I suspect the planting guides are simultaneously optimistic when it comes to harvest windows and conservative when it comes to planting dates. But I have limited experience out here.

I planned to grow some vining crops but not close to the beans. I might amend that. In our area, is it better to shade to the north or south? I think people generally shade to the south, but the sun will be to the north in summer, right?

[karstopography]

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@MarkAndre Montgomery County has a planting calendar.

My light shade or filtered light is from a canopy of trees. My pole beans get filtered light for a portion of the afternoon, this time of year. My lot is very wooded, my garden is in the only spot close to the house on the lot that gets enough light to grow most vegetables reasonably well. I’m not sure how I would try to shade pole beans without the trees helping out

[Tormato]

In the northern hemisphere, the sun will always be to the south, with its highest angle about June 21st, and its lowest angle about December 21st.

Since I've grown up in an area with hundreds upon hundreds of acres of shade tobacco, 4 (or more?) tall, well anchored in the ground, poles, string or wire (I like using #9 galvanized wire), a large sheet of shade cloth, and likely a ladder, would be the only practical way of adding shade. I use the wire with poles and bird netting.

I'm thinking that folding corners over with shade cloth, or ironing on reinforcement patches of heavier material with a glue backing, and then putting a grommet in each corner might be better. Then it's just looping strong twine through the grommet and tying off to a pole. With wooden poles, eye screws are your best friend. If you get high winds, it would likely be best that the shade cloth can be easily removed and then put back up.

[rdback]

@Tormato, Gary, I think vines wind counter-clockwise lol (looking down at the plant). Looking at the pole, I think the vine goes around to the right, across the back, appears on the left, across the front, back around to the right, etc. Of course, I could be completely wrong, ha. @rxkeith grows a lot of beans, what say you?

[MarkAndre]

3AC0D315-6A84-42E1-BD5C-3E68E6336392.jpeg@MarkAndre Montgomery County has a planting calendar.

My light shade or filtered light is from a canopy of trees. My pole beans get filtered light for a portion of the afternoon, this time of year. My lot is very wooded, my garden is in the only spot close to the house on the lot that gets enough light to grow most vegetables reasonably well. I’m not sure how I would try to shade pole beans without the trees helping out

Thank you for the planting calendar. I think that’s the one I’ve looked at before. My memory of it was a little different than what I’m seeing. I can’t seem to rely on memory as much anymore. The late planting dates look pretty accurate and for the most part it looks like a reliable chart.

As for the early dates, if I planted at the beginning of March, I would have to protect or lose most frost-sensitive plants. That last late cold snap seems pretty dependable around here. Add to that we seem to be in a microclimate, where predicted lows in the mid-30s usually results in frost. Protection is feasible with a few tomatoes, but trying to cover beans would likely be something I wouldn’t have time to do. Replacing plants may or may not be feasible, depending on the circumstances of the particular gardener.

At least as a hobby-gardener, I am afforded the luxury of failure. I do try to foster the mindset of a subsistence gardener, which makes it more fun for me and better prepares me for the chance it might be for survival someday.

[MarkAndre]

In the northern hemisphere, the sun will always be to the south, with its highest angle about June 21st, and its lowest angle about December 21st.

Since I've grown up in an area with hundreds upon hundreds of acres of shade tobacco, 4 (or more?) tall, well anchored in the ground, poles, string or wire (I like using #9 galvanized wire), a large sheet of shade cloth, and likely a ladder, would be the only practical way of adding shade. I use the wire with poles and bird netting.

I'm thinking that folding corners over with shade cloth, or ironing on reinforcement patches of heavier material with a glue backing, and then putting a grommet in each corner might be better. Then it's just looping strong twine through the grommet and tying off to a pole. With wooden poles, eye screws are your best friend. If you get high winds, it would likely be best that the shade cloth can be easily removed and then put back up.

That seems like a solid scheme. We have very little wind, for the most part.


Didn’t realize the sun doesn’t go north. I tried to research the sun angles for different points of the season. This is what I came up with. https://www.sunearthtools.com/dp/tools/ ... hp?lang=en
Don’t know about you, but for me that’s a a big ‘Yikes.’

[MarkAndre]

I just remembered I used transplants for Rattlesnake last year. So maybe no beans this year after all.

[Tormato]

@Tormato, Gary, I think vines wind counter-clockwise lol (looking down at the plant). Looking at the pole, I think the vine goes around to the right, across the back, appears on the left, across the front, back around to the right, etc. Of course, I could be completely wrong, ha. @rxkeith grows a lot of beans, what say you?

I'm over 60, with a total pole bean crop failure for the past two years, that's why I said I was unsure. I should find out this year. It's not so much not remembering what direction they twine, it's about not trying to force them to grow in the other direction. That's the key thing to remember.

[Tormato]

I just remembered I used transplants for Rattlesnake last year. So maybe no beans this year after all.

If the April planting doesn't work, plant again and go for the fall harvest.

[karstopography]

@Tormato how different are pole versus bush beans on preferred/acceptable temperature needs or requirements? I’m under the understanding that temperature requirements for various varieties, cultivars of pole beans isn’t uniform with the flat romano type pole beans being less able to deal with higher temperatures than some others.

What I have noticed in my plot is that filet bush beans like Rolande and Maxibel have been able to produce beans when Emerite has mostly thrown in the towel and Emerite can still produce when the flat pod’s I’ve tried are near death. But, I tend to plant the filet bush types 3 or 4 weeks later than the pole beans so naturally the bush types are at their potential peak later in the year than the pole beans.

What are the lower thresholds on acceptable temperatures for flat podded pole beans? Or in other words, what’s too cold for them? Daytime highs and nighttime lows, what are the lower limits?

I was so encouraged with the eventual production and quality from my September 1st 2022 planting of Rolande filet bush beans that I want to expand the fall planting effort to perhaps include other varieties including flat podded pole types.

I know what weather and temperature is typical here and pretty much what temperatures to expect when, the main wild card is the random and very rare polar air incursion that I have no way to know is coming until a few days before the event. Knowing what flat podded pole beans can tolerate and what they thrive on temperature wise will help determine the time of sowing.