Hope you don't mind if I start at the bottom and work up? :) Growing kidney beans worth it? No, not IMO. Takes too much space for any worthwhile production. Plus they need to dry on the vine so all that space is locked up well into fall. Canning info? That is the Harvest Forum here for all the canning info you need. How-tos are readily available there. Seeds or plants? Seeds. They do much better than trying to transplant. Bush beans don't usually need any support. They are bushes and support themselves. But I guess you could use tomato cages if you needed to for some reason. I wouldn't. Pole beans don't require heavy duty support unless wind is a real problem. If so you can use clothesline or even wire but the string has the advantage of being disposable at season end. If you are concerned just double the string. But many other more effective types of support are available too. Check out the Beans and Peas forum here for more ideas and even some support pics. Hope this helps. Dave

No, Bt is for caterpillars, not beetles. That's why I mentioned it for loopers above. It isn't a beetle control pesticide. Sorry for the confusion. Want organic or chemical control? Chemical control is Sevin (carbaryl). I use only the liquid, never the dust, of it and only as a very last resort as it also kills all the beneficials. Keep in mind that your leaves can tolerate a lot of damage before it affects any production. Organic controls linked below. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Organic bean beetle controls

If you installed metal t-posts, you could attach Johnny's Hortonova trellis to the T-posts and have a good strong support for your pole beans. You'll have a stronger set-up if you support some of the T-posts front and back, especially posts at end of rows. Re-bars pounded into ground right up against T-posts will do the trick and help prevent T-posts from leaning/falling over in a storm. I've used the Hortonova netting and have been pleased with it. Johnny's also have it in smaller length, plus a similar product called Trellinet . I like the 6 x 6 inch holes that are large enough for my hands when harvesting. (Hortonova/Trellinet's width = your installation's height.) Home D. has T-posts (garden Dept.) and re-bars (w/cement and the like). You'll need a small sledgehammer (cement dept), and cable ties (electrical dept) for attaching the netting to the posts.

They sell bean transplants?!? I'm sorry, but garden centers are doing a great disservice to new gardeners by selling transplants of easy-sprouting but hard to transplant vegetables such as squash, melons, cucumbers, and, I guess, beans too. All of these plants will sprout and grow enthusiastically when direct seeded -- assuming the ground is warm enough. None of them appreciate having their roots disturbed. :-( I suspect that transplant shock weakened your plants so that the are succumbing to pests and diseases that stronger plants might have fought off. Another possibility is that in your zone beans may not survive the summer heat. Here in zone 7 in NC beans should be planted in May and in late July with the expectation that the bush varieties at least will not survive the blistering heat of June and July.