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Vegetable Gardening

Is there any pole bean that produces through high heat?

12 years ago

Planted Fortex for the first time this year. (yummy) I got a total of three pickings before the temps climbed into the high nineties and they completely shut down. I saw some Red Rattlesnake Bean seed the other day and wonder if that variety would produce through the summer? Any other suggestions?

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Comments (9)

Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
12 years ago
We switched to bush beans here in the hot arid plains. Mine still producing thru 90s F, humidity in teens and winds in 20s mph.

Dan
digdirt2
12 years ago
Produces in high heat? Nope, not that I have ever found. No bush bean will either, not in my heat and humidity and yours is probably even worse Donna.

Just keep your pole beans well watered and pick what few do set then once the weather breaks - mid September here - they will kick into production.

Dave

PS: glad you liked the Fortex. They are my favorites!
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Pnbrown, some of the yardlongs have a bean & asparagus-like flavor when lightly cooked. Others have a very mild flavor which to me is more reminiscent of artichokes, and some just defy my efforts at describing them. They are generally sweet with an unusual flavor, which most tend to either like or hate. Really great in Asian cuisine, and I like them as a side dish with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic powder. As already mentioned, SA, yardlongs prefer both heat & humidity; but if you use a thick layer of mulch around the roots & keep them moist, they might make it. Probably no bean will set pods during triple-digit heat, though. For "green bean" taste in a hot climate, I would recommend Hyacinth beans (Dolichos lablab. They require a long season, but that shouldn't be a problem in SoCal. There are several named varieties, I prefer the purple podded for flavor & the juiciest pods. Some of the green podded varieties have thin pods that look like snow peas. The vines are tall & rampant, but have the added advantage of beautiful flowers with a perfume-like scent. Other heat-tolerant bean substitutes you might like to try are Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajun), Sword Bean (Canavalia gladiata), and Jack Bean (Canavalia ensiformis). The immature pods of all of these are edible. Most of the legumes above are carried by Kitazawa Seed in California. The last bean I would recommend is Tepary Bean (Phaseolus acutifolius), which is native to the desert Southwest... hence, proven to be heat & drought tolerant. There are many varieties offered by Native Seeds/SEARCH Hopefully at least one of these will prove to be successful in your climate, Shadyapex. Experiment, and have fun!
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glib
12 years ago
Yardlong is best for heat. Not a regular pole, but a vining legume by any standard.
quailhunter
12 years ago
Someone is going to throw "Rattlesnake" out there. I tried it this year. I think heat is a relative term here. It's been over 100 for most of our summer. They didn't really produce at all for me this year. It may be better at producing in the heat than some others, but I think there is a threshold as far as temperatures go.
Donna
Original Author
12 years ago
Well, shucks. Okay then. I guess I'll just have to pray for a cooler June next year. Thanks, folks. I planted a new bed of poles this week. Last year, the late planted ones did great until frost.
dancinglemons
12 years ago
donnabaskets,

Don't give up. Try the Orient Wonder Pole Beans from Kitchen Garden Seeds. They are a "yardlong bean" according to type but they taste like "pole bean green beans". I grew them 2 years ago and they were super, super prolific in 100 degree heat. I am growing them again this year and again they are super, super prolific. There are other seed merchants that sell the Orient Wonder Pole Bean but I like Kitchen Garden because their seed packet has 175 seeds and most other seed merchants only have 50 seeds or less. I only plant 25 seeds per season so this packet will last me several more years. I will try to post a photo of the plants - Can't do so now because just harvested almost all for my MIL.

Cheers,
DL

Here is a link that might be useful: John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds
glib
12 years ago
I think she ignored the yardlong advice already.
Donna
Original Author
12 years ago
No, No. I did not ignore it. Just didn't fully understand it. I guess I didn't know what you meant by "not a regular pole". I will absolutely try them. Thanks, everyone!
tryinginfla9b
12 years ago
It may just be a fluke, but I planted a few Kentucky Wonder Beans, around the base of my non-producing orange tree (Had a huge number of oranges last year that I left on the tree to long.. another story..)
Anyways I now have beans galore growing all over the tree. It's been upper 90's days and 80's nights with very high humidity. I think the partial shade helped. I've never had beans produce in July here in southern Florida, (I'm actually zone 10)... Yardlong beans produced well into june in direct sun, but now are all dying.

It's probably just pure luck that they are surviving, but will definitely be trying them again.

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