sunflowers for bean poles

[weekendwellies]

Has anyone tried anything like this, and did it work well?

A New England farmer says: "In my own gardening I have found a most satisfactory substitute for bean poles, which latter are not only expensive, but a source of trouble and care. I plant a sunflower seed by each hill of beans, the stock answering the same purpose as the ordinary bean pole, besides providing an excellent feed for my poultry. I have been using for this purpose a mammoth variety of sunflower seed, many of the flowers of which measured fifteen inches across the seed bed."
The Farm and Household Cyclopædia - circa 1888

[Two_Sheds]

I did it last summer, and it didn't work well at all.

The sunflower out-competed the bean for food and water, and the stem was too thick for the bean to comfortably twine around.

The beans never got bigger than the one you can see in the photo.

[Snadger]

I tried it with Jerusalem Artichokes (which btw are a member of the sunflower family) and it was only partially sucessful!

[Flummery]

The problem seem to me to be that the growing plant when used as a support, competes for food and, more especially in summer, water. If you use the old stems, gathered at the end of the year, they are too brittle to take the weight.

[ann-the-nan]

sunflowers for beanpoles

The other problem is, that when the plants have died off, the roots are absolute bu**ers to shift.

[Two_Sheds]

Ann, I leave mine in the soil all winter (sweetcorn too) to provide shelter for hibernating ladybirds.

[Bigmallly]

I Like the idea & wondered if it would work if the sunflowers were in pots. Obviously the pots would have to be secured somehow.

[yorkshire sam]

Sunflowers not only have a deep taproot but a very extensive network of fibrous roots and they would rob the beans of valuable nutrients to say nothing of the watering. Besides which the sunflowers generally need staking anyway otherwise they get blown over. Seems to me like a job that is going to make an awful lot of work!

[jackyspratty]

This seems a bit similar to the three sisters thing? Sweet corn for support for beans, climbing beans up the stem of corn and squashes curling round the bottom to keep the roots cool and surpress weeds. Haven't tried it tho, and I think you have to let the corn dry for it to be successful?

[RedThorn]

jackyspratty - no but you will need to plant the corn weeks in advance or the beans and squash grow too quick. Also the beans should be ones you want to shell and dry out as picking them can be a challenge. Remember corn should be planted in a block format as they are wind pollenated

[Bulbaholic]

It sounds a great idea but I would be concerned about the sunflowers growing much more quickly than the beans, or, vice-versa.
Then there is the competion for nutriens/water as above!

[jackyspratty]

jackyspratty - no but you will need to plant the corn weeks in advance or the beans and squash grow too quick. Also the beans should be ones you want to shell and dry out as picking them can be a challenge. Remember corn should be planted in a block format as they are wind pollenated

Ah, yes it makes sense now. new it was something like that! Thanks