i think a tread on this subject is need so here goes.
lets see picture of yours and others bean support design.
there are teepees. willow weaves (see alys fowler guardian blog http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2011/may/05/alys-fowler-growing-beans-peas-allotment-video?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3486 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2011/may/05/alys-fowler-growing-beans-peas-allotment-video?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3486)) , frames and strings and many more i can not accurately describe with words. So lets see picture of you bean and pea supports
I'll be copying davyw1's design (pic on hoop house thread) I hadn't thought about the beans hanging down on the outside of the structure and being easily accessible which sounds like a great idea.
Last year we grew ours over arches that had been joined together.
Oh I like the arch idea! I have some Wilko arches that I bought in the sale last year.
I use wigwams; one for each bean variety.
Robert teepee and wigwam not same:
teepee
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/IowaTipi.JPG/399px-IowaTipi.JPG)
wigwam
(http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/images/firstnations/teachers_guide/woodland_hunters/birchbark_wigwam.jpg)
My peas did very well last year on chicken wire. Two lines of it. My lovely bean pole structure has blown down in the wind, but I did manage to rescue it yesterday.
I grow them up a single row of bamboo canes which are supported at each end and across the top by a strong metal frame. It's easy to pick them from behind the row.
Quote from: Duke Ellington on January 09, 2012, 16:23:20
Oh I like the arch idea! I have some Wilko arches that I bought in the sale last year.
Yes they are what we used
Plainleaf what about all the other wigwam images on Google that look just like teepees, and which we Brits rightly call wigwams!
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=wigwam&hl=en&rlz=1C1_____en-GBGB461GB461&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qysLT4vGE4brOaP_9KQI&ved=0CJkBELAE&biw=1024&bih=653
Willow is a bit of an issue to work with since it has an astounding ability to put down roots even on a piece of twig that looks apparently dead. They are then very difficult to remove.
I am sure you are right PL about the difference between a wigwam and a teepee but for us they are the same. So a conical bean frame made out of bamboo or hazel we call a wigwam. A tent structure is also known as a teepee. Never seen what you call a wigwam before. Interesting. I think we might call it a igloo. (I know - they are made of ice) The nearest we have is a geodesic dome. As you are rather aware there are a number of differences between English and American and this is one of them. We have been going our separate ways now since 1776. Perhaps the surprise is that the two languages still are so alike. Is it perhaps time you got to grips with the differences? We are unlikely to change even for you. ;D But nice pics.
I do have enough hazel for one row, I think they like it better than bamboo. Peas I certainly use hazel.
Shirlton - how did you get on with your arches with beans? Duke is thinking of doing it but both years I have done this the wilkies arches collapsed - the metal seemed to have bent and broken. I thought it might be both wind and the green beans growing at different rates putting pressure on different bits.....? It looked great and did the job though till it collapsed!
Quote from: plainleaf on January 09, 2012, 17:20:30
Robert teepee and wigwam not same:
PL,
And you need to point this out because ........?
Here I have one metal structure and fix two rows of bean sticks to the top inverted 'V' fashion. The rest go on individual wigwams same as Robert. The peas go onto obelisks or onto structures made out of 4 bean sticks with garden twine going around to keep them contained.
OH has been giving me 'panda stix' for birthdays and Christmasses to replace my ancient broken bamboos. These are made out of recycled plastic and last forever. They are not cheap (3-4 times the cost of bamboos), but last forever.
I like the willow arch in the video, ok on the rooting problems. In a way, rooting will make the arch stronger I guess, but then fertility and water is taken away by the growing willow, which isn't such a good idea.
The Munty frame springs to mind. Have seen one recently with runnerbeans on it. A good idea for space saving gardening and it works well too. Not tried it myself.
Quote from: gwynleg on January 09, 2012, 18:44:37
Shirlton - how did you get on with your arches with beans? Duke is thinking of doing it but both years I have done this the wilkies arches collapsed - the metal seemed to have bent and broken. I thought it might be both wind and the green beans growing at different rates putting pressure on different bits.....? It looked great and did the job though till it collapsed!
Tony did put strengtheners in them
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s121/shirlton/wikiesarches.jpg)
Thanks plainleaf, I just spent a happy half hour reading how to construct a wigwam. Most interesting.
Quote from: Digeroo on January 09, 2012, 18:05:38
Willow is a bit of an issue to work with since it has an astounding ability to put down roots even on a piece of twig that looks apparently dead. They are then very difficult to remove.
I am sure you are right PL about the difference between a wigwam and a teepee but for us they are the same. So a conical bean frame made out of bamboo or hazel we call a wigwam. A tent structure is also known as a teepee. Never seen what you call a wigwam before. Interesting. I think we might call it a igloo. (I know - they are made of ice) The nearest we have is a geodesic dome. As you are rather aware there are a number of differences between English and American and this is one of them. We have been going our separate ways now since 1776. Perhaps the surprise is that the two languages still are so alike. Is it perhaps time you got to grips with the differences? We are unlikely to change even for you. ;D But nice pics.
I do have enough hazel for one row, I think they like it better than bamboo. Peas I certainly use hazel.
Slightly of the "bean support theme" but the
wigwam in the picture would be called a
bender here ;)
darkbrowneggs a bender in usa is either a device for bending things or being drunk all weekend.
net trellis
http://www.growgardentomatoes.com/image-files/tomato-trellis-4.jpg (http://www.growgardentomatoes.com/image-files/tomato-trellis-4.jpg)
Copyright image removed
I made myself a munty frame from bamboo canes and string brilliant for all my peas and beans also planted toms and lettuce underneath. Still standing now 18 months later after all the recent winds.
Quote from: admjh1 on January 09, 2012, 22:56:41
I made myself a munty frame from bamboo canes and string brilliant for all my peas and beans also planted toms and lettuce underneath. Still standing now 18 months later after all the recent winds.
Have you got instructions please
Quote from: lottie lou on January 09, 2012, 23:35:41
Quote from: admjh1 on January 09, 2012, 22:56:41
I made myself a munty frame from bamboo canes and string brilliant for all my peas and beans also planted toms and lettuce underneath. Still standing now 18 months later after all the recent winds.
Have you got instructions please
We had a discussion about them here (with photos)
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=61624.0
Quote from: plainleaf on January 09, 2012, 17:20:30
Robert teepee and wigwam not same:
I do know the difference, but if I claim to be growing my beans up a teepee nobody over here will have any idea what I'm doing. Whether it's historically correct or not, in gardening terms we always call it a 'wigwam'.
Oh dear you are all scaring me a bit! I am HOPELESS at anything DIY type, but this year I want to have a go at runner beans. Can you tell me exactly how massive one plant grows? Judging by the low number of beans in a seed packet I am guessing that one plant grows quite big. I was hoping to just make a couple of bamboo "pyramids" (OK for the pedants, not quite the right term but I understand myself) and maybe connect them at the top with another thinner cane. WIll that be sufficient??? How high will they grow? And how many seeds should I plant per metre?
I find 8-foot canes make a perfectly adequate wigwam. I grow two plants per cane, and its usually sensible to put in some extra seeds as germination isn't always that good. If you put start them in pots under cover about the end of April or the beginning of May, they're usually ready to plant out at the right time. Unless you get a summer like the last one, that is, when my beans were hit badly by June frosts.
one of my local garden suppliers sell a plastic ring which you then push up 10 bamboos into ready made slots which makes a wigwam shape held fast all through the winds ( and i planted 3 beans around each pole =30 beans) at 99p ago well worth it i grew sweetpeas up another
I use muntys - I have about 4 around the plot; and if I have a spare space I pop 4 seeds in a small square and shove an 8ft cane in the middle, at an angle of about 70 degrees, so that the beans hang down, I don't lose any growing space and nothing gets shaded.
I use a variety of methods to support plants, including 'strung' wigwams of different sizes for beans, peas and mini squash...
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l47/dlp133/Plot%2098/LateAugust2007066.jpg)
Metal frames with bamboo supports for peas, beans, tomatoes and larger squash...
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l47/dlp133/Plot%2098/28July2009010.jpg)
..and willow for sweet peas....
(http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/gallery/3629_21_03_10_4_33_39.jpg)
Some nice pictures of various methods but at the end of the day its what you have at hand to make your frame with and mainly what you find the easiest for ones self.
I think the most versitile method i have seen was using drainpipe, hole drilled in at a angle chris cross and bamboo cane slotted through thin end first. the bamboo could only go down as far as you wanted according to the size of the holes a pin driven in at each end secured to the pipe so it would not blow over