Allotments 4 All

Thinking about my runner beans...

Do mine on neither!! My frame was put in by my 89 year old farmer friend that has been growing runners for most of those years....hmmm   hard to explain, a basic upside down U frame, 4 in a row all connected! which tilts forwards, so the beans can hang down, to aid length, straightness and picking. If I go up today will try and remember to take a photo, cos what I have written doesn't sound like it at all!!  DP

Indeed - ours always lean at about 15deg. Outwards - not inwards. = Tim

I do a long A frame type jobee on the main plot, and wigwams dotted around on plot numero two.  Never thought of poking the poles outwards!  Must remember for next year!

Tried the A frame arrangement once with bamboo canes - it fell down in a bit of a blow! I use wigwams now only because they tend not to blow over.

My plottie neightbour has a permanent bean structure - made of 2 x 2 by the looks of if.  Along the row he has 'planted' lenghts of 3" plastic pipe for watering.....one day, maybe, I'll copy!
AC

I voted for A frame but atualy i use an X frame . This is very long canes placesd to cross in the middle rather than at the top. Short canes are placed across the intersection to strengthen the structure. It seems more stable than and A frame and the beans at the top of the canes are easier to reach because they are nearer.

My structure is canes at regular intervals around my Greenhouse with twine joining them at one foot intervals.This also provides shade in the greenhouse when needed.In theory anyhow.So sorry cant do the vote.

The two end of mine are salvaged from sides of a swing my kids played with when they were little.

The cross bar is a piece of gas pipe.

I either use canes, wires or string as my plant support.

I have had this arrangement for teens of years, I just take it down, fold it up and place it in my greenhouse till required the following season.

This is it;

(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alex.martin2/My%20Allotments/1-DSCF0263.JPG)

Last year i did a wigwam which fine, good crop and stable but this year i'm trying a A frame and an X frame to compare.

Two other Lottie owners have put their canes straight up and connected at the top with a short length  of hoseing to create an upside down U. Will be interested to see how that does.

I have said A frame but it has an extra couple of poles making a sort of wigwam at each end.   did use wigwams for years but find it easier not to miss the beans when picking on an A frame.  

Gardener that looks really sturdy.

Wicker - i have done the same but wasn't sure how to describe it - wigwam at the end is it though!

Went for wigwam as just starting out & didn't have a lot of cash for supports.   Also, didn't want to overproduce the beans.   I used 5 x 8 foot bamboo canes.  Have approx 2 foot of cane in the ground for stability & sowed 2 beans at the base of each cane.   This should produce enough for just me.

ooeerr,
Haven't done mine yet - I'm going to plant my seeds today & will try the A frame method and hope that they 'catch up' with everyone else's!

Debs

Multi not a great piccie, but the weather has been too grot to get to plot to take a proper one! This was taken in October, and my runner bean leaning thing is to the right! (runs the width of the lottie!)


(http://img58.photobucket.com/albums/v176/bermujan/Image003.jpg)

I was wondering, what design is the best for intercropping? Probably the wigwam because you can plant between them whereas A or X frames the only 'free' space is soon shaded by the beans

A's or X's are probably best when using a bed system on the plot/lot. A wigwam can fit in anywhere (even in a flowerbed - as we did the first year in our current house and the veg plot wasnt ready).

I suppose the design doesnt make THAT much difference to size of crop does it? Just ease of picking and personal preference/aesthetics.  Be interested to hear if it DOES make a difference though.

Oh Debs....you're not alone...not done mine yet either....no ground ready - think I'll use the wigwam method tho this time as I'm so late...lottie neighbour bringing me some old canes of his to use....tried digging yesterday but it was so hard....however had heavy rain last evening so hope I can get there tomorrow and dig a bit more (hurt all over at the moment tho in spite of long soak)...really well behind with everything - I'm away such a lot....spent ages hand weeding between my shallots, onions and garlic, earthing up my potatoes and trying to hack down all the wilderness between my fruit trees....ran out of time and energy!!....really impressed by The Gardener's picture.....a bit puzzled by your frame D.P. the way it leans so much...what stops it from falling over.....is it just because frame is well pushed into the ground....

I'm an X frame girl myself - I wouldn't have thought this would shade crops planted at the bottom of each leg of the X, until the beans reached right to the top of the X - hopefully by which time the lettuces or whatever may appreciate a bit of shade?

I realised I actually do an X like Richard and Ceri, and then wigwams dotted wherever there is room.

Hmm - got my Peas on triangular based wigwams, interlocked by canes to increase stability.  My runners are being trained up my sweetcorn (3 sisters method).  Serves me perfectly well, and space efficient too.

On intercropping, if you grow lettuce they like the part shade in the tunnnel of a A or X or an inverted U, which gives more room for the beans (they don't come together at the top) but is a lot more fiddly to erect and not as inherently stable

Phil

We are going to use wigwams for our first year.  

A neighbouring lottie holder was clearing out his lottie ( he has 2 permanent bean structures) and he gave me 6 poles which are about 9' tall and about 5" diameter and 3 lengths of ali angle with holes drilled into to them to attach twine etc for beans to grow up which are for me to build a bean frame with.  

Just not got around to do it yet. Next year definatley.

Ozzy - interesting point there - nature is left handed.  Most coiling runners will curl anti clockwise.

On a similar note the sugars produced by plants are all the 'left handed' ones (also known as cis-trans isomerism).  For those who don't know what I'm talking about, carbon ring structures in sugars, complex acids and so on can be in one of two shapes - a 'left handed' and a 'right handed' version.  Nature almost always produces the left handed version.  Interestingly industrially we tend to find it much easier to produce the right handed version.  For example, the right handed version of the fructose sugar is the same stuff they use in artificial sweetners.

hello,
i cut willow once a year in spring and use the branches for almost everything. I leave it to harden for a year so i am always a year behind. i edge beds and make bean arches. will try to borrow sons digi camera for pics but basically, i arch long lengths (often bound together) over the width of my raised bed and then weave more branches willy-nilly about the basic arch structure. I grow nasturtiums or morning glories with my beans cos they look lovely. willow is terrific stuff (and free) and easily rooted for living willow structures (although it robs a fair bit of moisture from the soil. I have voted for an A-frame as i find wigwams a pain when the beans reach the top - mine just turn into a huge tangle.
cheers, suzy