Bush beans and pole beans question?

[Sally PB]

Its very nice to be able to talk to other gardeners here. And people here are more humble too than other sites I'd used.

I've found that to be true for any topic here. BYC is a NICE place.

 

[nao57]

We tend to have hot dry summers unless we have a hurricane. So I find my garden does better planted directly in the ground and I don't have to water as much. The fall/winter garden also seems more hardy. I use wide rows to give me plenty of room to work.
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Oh wow. That's amazing! That is really flourishing. Thanks for the pics. And wow you have done such a good job.

 

[NanaK]

Oh wow. That's amazing! That is really flourishing. Thanks for the pics. And wow you have done such a good job.

Thank you very much and hope you have much success!

 

[Sammster]

We tend to have hot dry summers unless we have a hurricane. So I find my garden does better planted directly in the ground and I don't have to water as much. The fall/winter garden also seems more hardy. I use wide rows to give me plenty of room to work.
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This garden is beautiful ♡

 

[NanaK]

This garden is beautiful ♡

Thank you much!

 

[Sally PB]

This garden is beautiful

My garden looks just as neat and tidy, said Sally, never...

Very nice.

 

[Bubblewrap]

I beleive that if you are growing a crop for adding nitrigon to the soil you would need to cut it down as it blooms. If you grow beans for the fruit then they put their nitrogen into the seeds and do not really add any to the soil. If you just want a nitrigoen fixer then clover is also an option.

 

[Birdsong 82]

Yup. That’s why I love it here. We can share the good the bad and the ugly that exists in all of our lives and the experiences shared are the best I’ve ever come across. A lot shared and learned and always more ahead

I've found that to be true for any topic here. BYC is a NICE place.

 

[DLA]

So... I had a question about bush beans and pole beans?

I've grown bush beans before but not pole beans. A lot of people in the southwest don't do pole beans. I guess it just never took off. But people do bush beans.

Supposedly beans are nitrogen fixers, which is part of my interest in them.

Anyway... I forgot to do beans this year. I mean... I mostly do cucumbers and tomatoes primarily and then a few other things. So because I was focusing on trying to learn melons this year I just forgot about doing beans entirely. (Wish I'd remembered...)

Anyway, when I did do beans in the past I sort of had a hard time. I did get them to grow. And to produce fruit I also succeeded. But I don't feel like I really had them take off and really do well. Plus, a lot of insects like snails are really attracted to bush beans over other vegetables and that probably played a part in not doing as well with them.

I thought maybe it might help to ask others... for bean techniques what other vegetables would you compare the ideal watering schedule and other techniques with to have them do well? I thought maybe a comparison to the ideal setups might have insight to have them take off and do well next year?

Also I'd wondered do you do a different strategy and techniques and watering setup for pole beans compared to bush beans? Will the same watering rotation and setup even work for pole beans? People I'd talked to that do pole beans say they produce a lot more ('potentially') than bush beans. This made it seem worth it to investigate more on them.

A side question that I'm curious about for beans is when you grow them for the nitrogen fixing, or fertility fixing trait in a field or area, if that area is depleted somewhat in resources, do you grow them there more than 1 year to fix the soil? Is 1 year enough or do you need to do more than 1 year?


Thanks and happy gardening.

When I grow beans I usually grow pole beans on a trellis of some kind. Nice to not have to bend to pick them. Water them the same as everything else, I don't usually fertilize them. I usually grow them in a different spot the next year. I found one variety of pole bean that I really liked called Fortex filet pole bean. They make really nice long stringless tasty green beans and keep producing for most of the year as long as you keep them picked regularly. They get pretty tall but that's good, more vine means more beans. I don't usually see them in the store seed racks and have to order them online, I think they're worth the extra trouble.

 

[Mike L]

My pole beans are on about gen4 this year. They have a cattle panel I turned into an arch to cling to. Harvest is nice with beans hanging down underneath. In the spring I take a few straggler beans left on the vine and drop them into small raised beds at the bottom sides of the panels. Found out quite by accident how easy they are. Also cukes live on arches, my back yard is limited with chicken coop and run. I grow and share with them