How tall do these pole beans get???

15 years ago

I'm growing a row of Romano-style beans, the variety is Helda. They are definately pole climbers. I put them against a 6.5' wire fence and they quickly went to the top of that. I then erected some 12' bamboo poles, strung a string between them at about 11' high, and zig-zagged a line of twine up and down between the top of the fence and the new string at 11'. They're quick climbing up the zig-zagged strings. I have no doubt they'll soon reach the top at 11'.

And it's only June 5th! They seem like the one warm-weather crop that likes growing in our depressingly cold and dark PNW maritime(miserable) climate.

Anyway, what happens when they reach the top? Do they grow back down? Does it go sideways? Or does the vines energy get diverted away from the terminal growth tip? In which case maybe I've given them more than adequate trellis?

Featured Answer

sjrodenberg_gmail_com

12 years ago

I ran strings from my gutters down 18 feet and the beans are climbing up and continuing over the top. Next year I will run strings from my third story gutter at 32 feet. I have ladders that can reach the top. My yard is shade but the south side of my house is not so plant bushes and trees are espliered to there natural high so as to reach their spot in the sun.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

jimster
15 years ago
I give the beans an eight foot trellis. Above that, they're on their own. They can be lopped off above whatever height you decide on, but I don't bother with that.

Jim
mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
15 years ago
My beans are about 4" tall now. My fencing is about 3.5 to 4 feet tall. It is my first year with pole beans. Any suggestions with fencing this low? I don't want to have to buy more equipment.
Related Discussions
Pole Beans - Do I really need a pole?!?!
Q
Comments (21)
Last year I planted an 8' row of pole beans and when they got up a little, I tied an 8' piece of wire livestock panel to some steel posts, lifting the panel about a foot off the ground. The beans did well on it, but would have grown several feet higher than the panel so hung over. This year I am thinking of using a full length panel and putting the ends on/in the ground with the middle arched upwards, and I will plant the beans where the end of the panel hits the ground. This will kind of form an arch the beans can grow on and over. Hopefully this will make the picking a little easier, but if not it will add an interesting feature to the garden. I'll probably put the beets under the arch as the shade the beans give later in the summer helps protect the beets from the heat so they keep growing all summer instead of stalling out.
...See More
How many pole bean plants per pole
Q
Comments (4)
When I used to grow pole beans, I usually planted 3 per pole, but it was sometimes difficult to see the beans that needed picked as digdirt6 stated. I just like to utilize as much space as possible to maximize harvest even if I have to look a little bit harder for the harvest. Sometimes is is just trial and error to see what works best for you. So many factors play a part in plants growing, so you may find that what works for you does not work for someone else. I would suggest planting 2-3 per pole, and then adjust next year according to how they grew this year. You may find that you could plant 4 per pole. Hope this helps. Here is a link that might be useful: The Pepper Guy's Blog
...See More
How long can pole beans stay in production?
Q
Comments (13)
You could try snipping the beans back to 4 or 5 feet. I would expect this to trigger lateral growth from each node and give you shorter bushier vines. The problem I've had with pole beans is that they become a bean beetle habitat and get totally destroyed by the beetles long before frost. Bush beans can be removed after harvesting to lower the beetle population and then you can plant another crop of bush beans. You can also use floating row covers over bush beans to protect them from the beetles. I do like the idea of a continuous harvest till frost though. Maybe there would be some way to sandwich the pole beans between two sheets of row cover. I'm using Agribon AG-15 insect barrier this year for the first time and it works great against bean beetles! :)
...See More
How do pole beans climb?
Q
Comments (34)
Jimster told me about this thread today when I posted in Vegetable Gardening on the subject. I'm growing Kentucky Wonder pole beans in a spot just outside one of my kitchen windows. It's been fun watching them grow, and noting that they put on about 4-6" of new growth every night. Two of the vines have grown about 8" beyond the top of the support I provided for them. Over the past two days (including last night, using a flashlight) I watched the vines move in various directionsÂfacing each other, facing away from each other, etc. I wanted to find out why and how they did this. So I wrote to a Ph.D. bean research scientist, and this was his reply: Susan, The twining habit in climbing beans is controlled by the Tor gene (Latin torquere) first described in 1915. It confers the light controlled phytochrome climbing habit in climbing beans and is absent in bush beans (recessive tor gene). Ancestral primitive beans were largely climbers and used this trait to climb over vegetation to seek light. So the two plants in your case are not reaching for each other but they are twining around (have a rotational motion that has been demonstrated with time lapse photography). If they did touch they would vine together and might climb upwards more as they support each other. Since the vines do not have support (8" above the stakes) gravity will take over and cause them to fall earthward and this action is a kind of free fall - without direction. If they detect support again they will continue to climb upwards toward the light. I have see vigorous climbers in wild climb over all types of vegetation. In your case the vines are not seeking each other but as they continue to grow they will rotate in search of support driven by light. When we work with climbing beans in the greenhouse (rarely in the field) we turn the vine down on the plant itself otherwise they would seek the greenhouse supports, flower and set pods were we would not be able to harvest them. I hope my few comments are of interest - have a good harvest!
...See More
tcstoehr
Original Author
15 years ago
Here are the beans I was talking about. Several vines are over 12 feet tall. Most notably the leftmost vine that is now climbing the bamboo pole after using up all of the twine.
The picture below isn't very good. There are many blossoms on each vine but the secondary vines haven't filled in very much yet. Still amazing growth considering how cold it has been.

I'm starting to think that these vines will grow as tall as you let them. And only when they stop growing higher, or bend sideways or downwards, will energy be diverted towards branching the lower vine sprouts and filling out the pods. Kind of like fruit trees whose apical dominance discourages branching lower down.

Here's the picture. (900K JPG file)
solanaceae
15 years ago
If you don't really get Jack and the Bean Stalk, grow pole beans.
Macmex
15 years ago
One can grow really tall varieties on relatively short trellises. I have one bean which will easily go up 14'. Yet I heard of someone who actually grew it on 3' stakes and, even without poles at all! (Unless you know it'll work, I would never recommend growing pole beans without any support. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.)

Just remember that you HAVE TO PICK THEM! For that reason, I rarely give a bean more than an 8' tall pole. I'm six feet tall and can reach 8'. I don't trim the vines. Once they hit the top they loop back down and start over again. One of my favorites actually concentrates most of its' growth at the top 3' of the pole.

George
Tahlequah, OK
emmers_m
12 years ago
I'd love to see a picture of your 18+ foot beans, steve! (If you have one) And especially come back and post pictures of your 32 foot beans next year.

My trellis is 7ft and they certainly grow over it - I am 5 ft tall and have trouble picking high beans.

~emmers
dlsm
12 years ago
Hi everyone,

I grow two crops a year here in Florida. I plant one in February and the other in September. I can't grow them here in the summer as it gets too hot. They don't like ninty degree weather. They are my favorite green bean.

Here is a picture of my 7 foot trellis in April.

Happy gardening to all,

Luther

How tall do these pole beans get???

sjrodenberg_gmail_com

Comments (8)

jimster

mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa

Related Discussions

tcstoehr
Original Author

solanaceae

Macmex

emmers_m

dlsm

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

How tall do these pole beans get???

sjrodenberg_gmail_com

Comments (8)

jimster

mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa

Related Discussions

tcstoehrOriginal Author

solanaceae

Macmex

emmers_m

dlsm

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

tcstoehr
Original Author