Does anyone have any suggestions on how to build a support for pole beans.I am getting ready to plant them and dont know what kind of support will work best.
It all depends on how much bean your planting and the variety (some grow a lot bigger than others)
A method that worked for us was to make a frame out of PVC pipe (7ft x 20ft with vertical supports every 4 feet) and running twine across it. We drilled holes up each vertical support about every 5 inches to run the twine through to make sure it was secure. The following year we used the same setup just replaced the twine with a netting.
We've grown them on fences, between rows of corn, on upside down tomato cages.
We grow ours on a woven wire fence with a row or two of twine running across the top depending on the type of bean. It's ok if they hang over the top a little bit. When fall comes and they die, just rip them of the fence.
We used galvanized conduit. it comes in 10 ft sticks that are fairly cheap at Lowes. Just drill a hole through the end of each one, lay them side by side, and put a bolt through the end of the holes. Then you canpull the middle one the opposite way as the outside two and make a TeePee.
I used a piece of American wire folded in half and set it pointy side up ( like an upside down V) then supported it with long sticks in the middle. I planted the beans on each side and they grew (and grew, and grew) up each side and met at the top. Only trouble was, I couldn't reach the top beans to pick because of it's being angled out at the bottom. Sure looked nice, though, like a big green tent!
I'm sticking with bush beans this year. I think I just like them better.
I use bamboo 8' canes set up in a teepee style. Simply tie twine around one end of them, kind of interlacing it between the canes, about 8" from the end of the canes. (Not too tight, or you won't be able to spread them open)
I then push the ends of the canes into the ground in a circle. I then twist tie some 4' chicken wire around the teepee, starting about 5" off the ground. Any netting would do, but chicken wire is reuseable year after year.
At the end of the growing season, I rip the vines off the chicken wire, pull up the banboo stakes, fold them togeather, and hang them under the eves of my garden shed, out of the weather. The canes last for several years, and can be used over and over again. Cheap too!
We use a galvanized stock panel and t-posts. They come in 16' lengths and 4' heights. We get long t-posts and wire the panels on about 8" above the ground which gives us extra height. At the end of the season, we tear off the vines and throw them in the compost. Remove the wire and pull the posts and put them outside the garden until you decide where you are planting beans next year! The panels will last for years making them well worth the investment.:rainbow-sun
8 ft tee posts and 7ft deer fencing, although I have used shorter tee posts and attached extensions to them with tie wire and and made an open mesh weave from twine, but it is tedious and I am getting lazy in my old age. And a good romano pole bean is so good and so productive, and I am growing a yellow podded variety as well this year, as well as a european filet type.