How to Grow Pole Beans

There are two main types of beans: pole beans and bush beans. Bush beans grow to about 18 inches tall and produce a big flush of beans at once, which makes them a good choice for canning, but you must plant successive crops to enjoy a harvest all summer long. Pole beans grow on a tall vine and produce beans continuously during the growing season. I prefer to grow pole beans because they take up less space and I only have to plant them once. Plus, pole beans tend to have a richer flavor than bush beans. There are hundreds of pole bean varieties and they come in green, yellow, purple and mottled colors, and their pods range in size from skinny French green beans to long, flat, meaty Italian beans.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• (6) 8-foot tall bamboo poles
• 14-inch plastic zip ties
• Bean seeds

1. You must build a sturdy teepee trellis for the pole beans to climb. Using a trowel, delineate the base of your trellis by drawing a circle that is 4 feet in diameter. Build the teepee with the six bamboo poles. Space the poles in even increments around the circle, then drive each pole into the ground 18 to 24 inches deep.

2. Create the teepee by gathering the poles together at the top. Secure the poles together by placing a plastic zip tie around them and cinching it tight. Clip off the tail of the zip tie. (If you're short you may need to enlist a tall person to help with this step.)

3. If you plan on building more than one teepee, space them in a row 8 feet apart and then place a horizontal bamboo pole between them to add extra support to the trellises.

4. Make a small mound of soil that is about 6 inches in diameter and 3 inches tall at the base of each pole. Plant five pole bean seeds in each mound. The seeds should germinate in 7 to 14 days. When the seedlings reach 3 inches high, thin out the two weakest seedlings by clipping them off at the soil line with scissors.

5. Train the vines up the poles. Spread 2 inches of grass clippings around the base of each pole to conserve soil moisture and reduce weed problems. Beans tolerate dry soil, but they do best if you water them deeply once a week.

6. Harvest pole beans before you can feel the bean seeds inside the pods. Prevent fungal disease by only harvesting when the foliage is dry. Pulling beans off the vine can damage the plant, so harvest by pinching off each bean. Pole beans grow fast, so harvest at least three times a week to ensure you get the tastiest pods and to signal the plant that it needs to keep producing.

7. Beans taste best when eaten fresh, but they will keep for a week to 10 days if you store them in a perforated plastic bag in the crisper drawer of a refrigerator.

Tips & Warnings

• Make the most of your garden space by planting salad greens like lettuce, arugula or spinach in the center of the teepee. The growing vines will shade the salad greens and extend their harvest period.

• If your soil is dry and hard, water deeply the day before you plan to build the trellis to make it easier to drive the poles into the ground.

Resources

• DigginFood