Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: blight on December 11, 2005, 09:56:18
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beans per bean pole? with the french type climbers- i plant 6-8 per stick but as nobody round here grows runners- i have no idea how many of them i need.
not that it´s very urgent but i am just counting my beans for spring sowing and want to know desperately.
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6-8 per stick?? I would hate to unravel that lot!!
We find that 25 plants - pole each - are just right for the 3 of us. I have never put more than 2 per pole.
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as far as french climbers are concerned: everybody round here plants 6-8 per stick.
next daft question:
runner beans: don´t you get a bigger crop if you plant more beans? with french ones you certainly do.
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I do two per pole as well. This year I mixed my reds and whites but I am going to keep them all seperated this year eg. red wig wam for eating fresh, red wig wam for drying, white wig wam for...
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i use the french-bean-pole which is 3,50 metres long. i wouldn´t want them to grow much taller than this.
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According to the vegetable growers bible it's 4 - 6 per pole
MikeB
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which bible?
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The vegetable gardener's bible, written by Edward C. Smith. Available from amazon.
MikeB
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any good? detailed? the "c" in his name suggests north america?
adaptable to european gardens (climate/crops)?
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Hi all, last year I put 3 per pole and had a bumper crop
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The vegetable gardener's bible, written by Edward C. Smith. Available from amazon.
MikeB
Synopsis
Renowned American vegetable gardener Ed Smith, works according to four principles. He explains these principles: wide rows, organic methods, raised beds and deep soil, to show how to grow high yield crops and produce better quality food.
Available here (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0715317814/qid=1134301096/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-5158564-4684442)
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hi mike, cannot find book at amazon, not under that name or title? sounds like the kind of book i want for xmas
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I did 24 plants ,one per pole and fed the whole family and most of the neighbours. ;)......Alan
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Hi Blight,
I think it's very good, I've lent it to two friends who have since brought their own copy. The thing with books though is it is definitely one man's meat is another man's poison. What I always do and I recommend you do the same is get your local library to get it in, have a read, then buy if you like it.
Hi Karrot,
I went to amazon and found it straight away, thats www.amazon.co.uk
If you click on RC 'here' it will take you straight there.
MikeB
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Its taken me ages just to scroll through this thread !!! I plant two beans per pole, french types, as I don't eat runners. We adore the borlottis, but can never grow enough to satisfy our appetites ... More beans next year is one of my 'must do' resolutions ... I use do climbers as I find them easier to manage and more productive ...
Derekthefox :D
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We tried three runner beans per pole on one lot this year. Highly productive, but even though I thought I'd put up a pretty strong row of poles, they toppled under the weight and had to be guyed up.
I'm sticking to two per pole next year.
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@derekthefox,
We adore the borlottis, but can never grow enough to satisfy our appetites .
in this case, why not try to sow 6-10, as everybody does with french-type borlottis (on the continent, that is)
now i´m pondering, why on earth people in the uk plant 1 or 2 seeds, when the restof the universe plants 6-10.
i wonder if it is a case of being an island and doing things differently anyway.
(wrong side of the road, unarmed policemen(?), last orders in the pub...)
now there is only one reason, that makes a bit of sense:
being a windswept island- i wonder if the canes, being burdened with all that growth from 6-10 beanplants might not topple over in a gale.
maybe this is the reason?
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All one can say is that, with only one runner per pole, I find it very difficult to see and pick all the beans. With more, there would be so much foliage that few would grow straight.
French beans have very much less foliage?
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yes,they do.
but maybe it´s a matter of the climate as well. if you get that sort of crop from one plant, then it really makes not much sense to sow more.
round here runner beans don´t get pollinated that well in summer. its only in autumn that they develop a lot of pods. when it´s really a bit late.
much to my regret as i much prefer them to the french variety.
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@wardy
it started off as a trick-question.
no.
looking at all the answers the whole monstrosity of the one- bean- per- pole-position dawned on me.
till i realised it might make sense after all, being windswept and blessed with a runner-friendly cool and moist climate .
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I was beginning to feel the odd one out here....I grow one runner bean per pole and so do all the other plotholders on the site
I have to admit to not really knowing any different :-[
I will be giving it a go next year though
Derek
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Just testing....replied to this earlier but nothing appeared! ::)
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Just testing.....replied to this earlier but nothing appeared! ::)
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Just testing.....replied to this earlier but nothing appeared! ::)
Just like the buses! ;)
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I've always planted one runner per pole with no problems, except having far too many beans to deal with. Doesn't seem to matter if the bean is called 'stringless' or not, if you let them grow too big it's no fun eating them. Next year will pick and eat at 6-8 inches max.
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So you are a head down gardener, like me then Wardy ?
I agree on the string problem boris, small is tender seems to be the rule ...
Derekthefox :D
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I agree on the string problem boris, small is tender seems to be the rule ...
Derekthefox :D
As in so many areas of life. :)
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Hi Blight, must confess the book said 4-6 per pole, but like the rest I only plant one per pole with the pole 6 inches apart in the row and the rows 1 foot apart.
MikeB
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hehe found the book thanks, don't know what i was searching under ???
i grew 4 per pole last year for the first time, they all died, the birds had them :'(. hadn't quite learned to protect them properly.
hello Mr rotavator what are you trying to say?
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The vegetable gardener's bible, written by Edward C. Smith. Available from amazon.
MikeB
I have this book and I wouldn't recommend it. It's written from an American viewpoint, but the main problem imo is that it's one of those books that uses a lot of words without conveying very much useful info. The Larkcom book is in a different class as are Organic Gardening by the beatific Geoff Hamilton, and anything by Bob Flowerdew, who loves his subject.
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The thing with books though is it is definitely one man's meat is another man's poison.
Proves the point I think, I would recommend it.
All the best
MikeB
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I am a two bean pole girl and am only so gratefull that they don't fall ova with that weight on them.
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Always been a one bean pole person myself - but can now understand why the climbing frenchies looked so spars and lonely when the runners next to them were prolific as usual. Shall try giving the frenchies lots of company round their poles next season. Thanks for that blight!
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I'm with you on that one Periwinkle. One per pole although on advice from Billy at the next plot, I alternated french and runners with the odd sweet pea thrown in to attract pollinators. Lance
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I have ordered the Lasy Housewife Bean. I was planning to grow it along a trellis fence.
Any experience with this one. How many will I need for a family of 4?
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I love this thread. Now can we say how high the bean canes should be and how far apart if grown in a double row. That is at what angle should the canes be.
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a pole ? can some one explain this to me please, i thought a pole was a good length ! but when your putting 2 beans to a pole then its not a lot or damned good beans !!!
carlos
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I thought a pole was an eastern european ???
Quick definitions (pole)
noun: a long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic
noun: one of the two ends of a magnet where the magnetism seems to be concentrated
noun: a long fiberglass sports implement used for pole vaulting
noun: one of two divergent or mutually exclusive opinions (Example: "They are at opposite poles")
noun: one of two antipodal points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the Earth's surface
noun: one of two points of intersection of the Earth's axis and the celestial sphere
noun: a native or inhabitant of Poland
noun: a contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves
noun: a square rod of land
noun: a linear measure of 16.5 feet
verb: deoxidize molten metals by stirring them with a wooden pole
verb: support on poles (Example: "Pole climbing plants like beans")
verb: propel with a pole (Example: "Pole barges on the river")
name: A surname (very rare: popularity rank in the U.S.: #34976)
The pole they are talking about is the one you grow your beans up, not the unit of measurement.