need support ideas for 'bush' green beans
ladybugsmom192
12 years ago
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Comments (8)
Joe1980
12 years agoRelated Discussions
questions about growing bush green beans in containers
Comments (13)Unfortunately I haven't really received an answer to my question. I plan to space them how far apart each plant should be spaced. OK. I would prefer to use a window box, so however many gallons the thing has to be to plant 4 green bean plants without overcrowding them, please specify the dimensions of the window box and what size it has to be in gallons. 6" deep, 6" long and 6" wide. I assume since I'll be planting 4 bush green bean plants and this is how many I want in a container without overcrowding them after I thin them, that I should plant double the amount of seeds with the number of plants I plan to grow since I'll be thinning them out to the strongest plants later? First, the idea of thinning to leave just the strongest plants is silly. What criteria determines which plant is strongest? Sometimes the little weaklings go on to do impressive things once they reach their stride, and the rapid growers peter out and become weak, but I digress. If you will only be planting 4 bush bean plants it isn't really worth your time. You will, at best, get 1-2 light side meals from that amount. Bush beans are usually planted with 3-6" spacing. Root system crowding/competition is pretty much never a limiting factor for them, instead sunlight exposure is. If you plant them too densely the ones in the middle shaded by the sunny side ones become the primary limiting factor. In a container you have the luxury of rotating it for sun exposure so you can plant a little more densely than in the ground. In a trough style container you can go even more dense since the mass of leaves is only as wide and the narrow container. If it were me and I was using a container 30" long by 6" wide by 6" deep I would place 20 bush bean plants into that space. That's 3" per plant. I would also fertilize with a 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer such as Miracle Grow 24-8-16. Don't count on the myth of beans/legumes using atmospheric nitrogen when growing in containers. Heck, half the time you can't even count on it when growing in the ground. With a trough shaped container this amounts to 2 rows of beans and I would rotate the container every day or every other day to get both sides adequate light....See MoreHave Pole Beans - Need Bush Beans
Comments (2)Gone! to Lady Austin...See MoreMy bush green beans have stopped producing beans. Normal?
Comments (13)I agree with previous posts - my bush beans always put out heavy crops for a month, stop, then restart again and produce up until frost. In fact I cover them for protection from the early frosts to extend the harvest. They stopped producing earlier than usual this year due to heat stress. I am certain they will kick in again if we get a break from the heat - in fact just today I noticed new flower buds are developing. Keep watering them as needed while they are dormant if you are not getting any rain. I am currently harvesting my pole beans, which will carry me over until the bush beans kick in production again. I feel that planting both bush and pole beans is the best strategy for this very reason, if a person has the gardening space. Planting successive crops never really works that well for me because the same heat that shuts down production of the established bush beans also stresses the younger bush bean plants, causing them to stunt and produce mediocre quality beans. But it is always good to try different methods to judge for yourself....See MoreBush green beans
Comments (4)Hi Mariana! Thanks for responding to my SOS! I do have lots of slugs but did not consider them to be doing this thing with the beans as I had planted them every year with no problems. You mentioned squirrels and chipmunks and I do have a lot of them, plus the birds, as I said. I suspect the four-legged and two-legged critters are the culprits but which ones, I guess I'll never know. I will, however, take your advice and I'll try both remedies you suggest - the beer and the nets. It will be an interesting experiment and I'll leave a small patch unprotected as a "control". (I've been watching too many science programmes on TV I think,lol.) I'll try to remember to post my results later in the year on this thread. Take care. Hope you have a happy St. Valentine's Day!...See MoreDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
12 years agohcoon
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12 years agoDonna
12 years agobluebirdie
12 years ago
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