What do you grow beans up?

[Raindancer411]

Hi All, I am growing some runner beans in a pot (small scale at the moment) but would like to do a larger area of them and some butter beans next year. What do people grow their beans up? I have found a steel frame for sale that fits over a grow back and was debating getting a couple...

[Two_Sheds]

Beans will grow 6 foot tall or more, so bamboo canes or hazel branches are the normal choice.

[smallblueplanet]

Normally 8ft bamboo canes. But I'll make do with anything really - here's a little concoction for some climbing squash, but I guess it could do for beans.

[zazen999]

And here's mine....

[Droppey]

I can't get my head around my dwarf french beans, I was under the opinion that they grow quite bushy near the ground but the ones i've grown so far in pots seem to be growing quite tallish, so I suppose my question is should i grow them near supports so then its kinda their choice?

[Two_Sheds]

Dwarf beans need no support (supposedly ... I've grown some varieties that have got to 3 or 4 foot tall)

Plant them slightly closer together than pole beans, so they support each other. About 5-6" apart each way.
My favourite are Purple Teepee and Purple Queen, which get no higher than a foot on my lotty.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I would put some support in for dwarf beans (a few twiggy sticks will do), especially if you are in an exposed location. Mine grew to about 2' tall last year, but were all over the shop, and I wish I'd supported them a bit.

For climbers, my frame looks should look like the sketch below when I finish putting the canes in at the weekend (work in progress photo below), with the plants growing up in a V so the beans hang down to make them easier for picking.

[SarzWix]

That's ace Haze, well impressed! Will you put some salad leaves/lettuce round the edges?

[Storming Norman]

Did you say steel frame & grow bag? You won't plant runners in a grow bag will you? The watering will be horrendous.

My beans are on 8 foot bamboo canes v shaped to the top with a cane across the tops and across the side at 6 foot. That seems to work, anything less substantial get swamped.

My mother has a steel A frame on her plot [nice and high] and she puts nets on it, but the nets are not so strong.

I put runners in tall containers in July last year and got a good autumn crop - as they were later they were less vigorous, and did not need the leaves thinning out like runners planted in May/June.

If you have good soil they can grow like triffids, very rewarding but worth planning for.

Ann

[Raindancer411]

Hi All and thank you for the replies I got some good ideas to go by now for what to do for the beans.

Storming Norman - No, I wont be growing them in grow bags, would be a big container with a frame up for the beans to grow up.

[Hazel at the Hill]

That's ace Haze, well impressed! Will you put some salad leaves/lettuce round the edges?

Thank you! It has taken a great deal of head scratching to get to this point!

The bed is 4' wide, and the canes 6" apart (but alternately, so 12" apart each side) so I plan on climbing beans in the middle of the bed each side to whip up the canes, and then dwarf beans round the edges.