Bean Support idea

[Jay-ell]

I don't know about you but I find that the space at the bottom of a bean wigwam/teepee or A frame to be wasted space that's hard to weed.

For the last 2 years I've grown beans on a V frame with the rows either side being about 1 foot apart where the leaves of the vines for dense shade and smother any weeds. It also leaves the sides of the bed accessible for weeding and other crops (last year squash, this year dwarf beans)

The other day my frame blew over – a failure of materials as the connectors on the plastic coated cane replacements broke in the wind.

ThanihtI had a couple of dreams about frames – the first one was out as it was too heavy, too expensive and I can't weld.

The second one seemed good but that was all I could remember about it. Well I've remembered it now and here it is.




The idea is that the spike at the bottom gets dug into the bed – maybe a foot to 18 inches. The four lower arms sit on the ground. The upper arms are shorter than the lower arms so that the centre of gravity will be inside the footprint of the lower arms (I was thinking about having a frame connect the ends of the lower arms but not sure it would be needed) this should mean that the weight of the structure is always behindn the pivot point if the wind did try to blow it over and that there would also be resistance by the spike in the ground.

Strings would be strung between the lower and upper arms – if the lower arms stuck out 2 foot then each arm could have 4-6 strings on it giving 18-24 strings on each frame. 2 of these would fit into an 8x4 bed and hold about the same as my V frame. There'd be access to the beans from either side, access to weed and plant in between the arms and rain would be able to reach the bed.

I was thinking that it could be made with a 75mm 2400mm fence post and some 49x100mm lats, some hooks,eyes/nails and some string.

Any thoughts on it – anyone see any major problems? Self shading might be an issue with the beans on the south shading the north. Any ideas anyone.

[Snadger]

You tried to explain this to me at the plot...................I didn't have a clue what you were on about then........as with now!

[sparrow100]

I can't see the file you've uploaded

But for being able to access beans and plant in the space underneath, I still don't think you can beat a Munty frame. Mine's 8ft wide, and 7ft deep with 2-3 bean plants per twine. Back supports are 5ft high, the front is about 7ft high. It gives the beans 12ft of growing room.

[Cadalot]

Having a wall I have a Munty Frame made out of hanging basket brackets and bamboo, I would like to see what it is Jay-ell has created but there is no photo

On my new plot I'm thinking of making a T Frame. or perhaps a post with a bicycle wheel screwed to the top, so I end up with an inverted wigwam.

[Bigmallly]

I agree with the Munty idea, had I have known how they grew, I would have covered the whole house in Beans.

[Penellype]

My attempts to grow beans in almost zero space:



North is on the left of the picture.
On the left, 4 beans planted in a 30 litre bucket, squashed into a corner behind a small Pieris bush. These were planted last. The string is reinforced with a cane.
In the centre, 2 11 litre pots one either side of the archway, each containing one red and one white flowered plant.
On the right 3 white flowered plants in one 11 litre pot shoved between the cold frame and archway, planted first. I started off with a string to the tall cane, but this soon started to sag so I tried propping it up with 2 short canes and a vertical, shoved in between courgette plants. When it got windy the canes came out of the joint so I added a longer cane (no idea why I didn't use this the first time!).

Seems to be working ok so far, although not many beans have set at first (I've had this problem before with Stardust). At least it has survived last night's 37mph wind gusts.

[Jay-ell]

Trying to figure out how to share photos with Google photos

Let's see if this works

That didn't work let's try
https://goo.gl/photos/JCPppboirnCYq57B8

[Ryez]

The photo was showing fine last night! I like wigwams because they just look very pretty! They are like flower tepees! But yes the space underneath is tricky to work with if you keep getting weeds. I use compost so don't have problems with weeds, and I also planted some radish underneath. The foliage of the beans is not as dense at the bottom, possibly cause I started the twine quite high, the beans are trained to grow along the twine, in clockwise directions, so there is light to grow stuff.

[ESBkevin]

Three ideas from fellow plot holders for runner bean supports.

1, The inverse V support. Effectively the canes are sunk close together so that they 'crossover' about 18-20" off the ground but the rest of the canes overhang 5-6 feet. Some cross bracing is required but maximum use of the ground space is achived.

2, Those wire fence panals seen around building sites. Just supported at each end and used over and over.

3, The engineering solution. Two 2.5" steel sleeves sunk at either end, two scaffold tubes slide in and have a bolt/bracket welded at the top. A third scaffold pole bolted between the two uprights has large washers welded on either side every 8". Push the top of the cane through the washer and sink the bottom into the soil. Very rigid and easy to use once made!
Interestingly the three plot holders using these methods have runner beans in the exact same spot every year as far as I can see.
One other tip used by another. He has sunken 4" PVC tubes down into the centre of the RB beds. He fills them with water and leaves it to soak in twice a week.
All 4 growers seem to get better results than I do!

[Snadger]

Bigmally's idea should suit you jay-el!

You've inherited two aluminium greenhouses pretty much devoid of glass and doing nowt! Jobs a guddon.............sorted!

[Jay-ell]

Bigmally's idea should suit you jay-el!

You've inherited two aluminium greenhouses pretty much devoid of glass and doing nowt! Jobs a guddon.............sorted!

You going to give me a hand moving them from bed to bed each year? Do beans need to be rotated?

Mind you, with a table and a couple of chairs it it'll be a nice shady place to sit in the summer (and with runners possible dense enough to shed the rain for majority of the time)

I best start sorting out where I'm going to put them then.

[veggiechicken]

Plant your runners and treat them as perennials. Cut them down to ground level and leave the roots in situ. Next year, they'll grow back. So no need for soi rotation or resowing. A permanent perennial bean frame

[Jay-ell]

Ah but what about frenchies? Can they be sown in the same place each year.

Anyway, the runners didn't grow back this year or last year (on a different plot). Maybe Newcastle isn't as tropical as Swansea.

[Bigmallly]

I think there are so many folk with Permanent Bean frames that with a little soil improvement each year it shouldn't cause any problems.

[Containergardener]

Neighbours round me have permanent bean frames . Get building JL