Bean experts...

[Smart Red]

Also purchase 3 or 4 round headed thru bolts, nuts and washers...(Neanderthal hippys always forget what they are called until we see the name on the shelf). Those kind with the semi round top and the little square holding thingamajig just under it... :happy_flower

Carriage Bolts?

 

[Jared77]

Monty I prefer pole beans for that exact reason. Also nothing better than picking some fresh for dinner and snacking on them while picking too and having fresh beans all season long. The downside is you don't get that glut of beans like you do with bush beans. You'll get a ton of them just more evenly spread out over the season.

I've done teepees and they blow over too once the plant covers the poles. I was thinking about doing an A frame set up instead and run a short section of fencing or even a few strands of wire like you do grapes between the 2 frames and fill both sides with beans. The other thought I've had is to do run some cattle fence between a pair of T posts so I could pick both sides.

 

[897tgigvib]

Yes! Carriage Bolts!

why don't they call them round headed thru bolts?

 

[Smart Red]

Yes! Carriage Bolts!

why don't they call them round headed thru bolts?

Right on! Even auto-bolts would make more sense. Who uses carriages any more?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Marshall, where is your Boy Scout training? Those darn carriage bolts get too expensive since they have to be so big. Lash the tops of that tripod together.

Lay the three poles side by side. Use a clove hitch on one to start it. Take three loops of baling twine around the three poles near the top. Make three wraps around the baling twine between poles 1 and 2, then three wraps around the baling twine between poles 2 and 3. Then finish with a clove hitch. Now stand them up, moving pole 2 north, pole 1 southwest, and pole 3 southeast.

You had it too tight so you broke the bailing twine. So do it again but this time don't get is so tight. Sink the ends of that tripod into the ground a bit. How far? Here in my clay, probably a fair amount, especially if it has been raining. In Steve's rocks, probably not very far.

Now braid a 5-ply rope out of some remaining baling twine. I generally do a 7-ply but a 5-ply should be enough. Tie one end of that around a heavy rock. Fifteen pounds is probably enough. Now hang that rock under the middle of that tripod.

Not only do you have a tripod for the beans, you have a weather rock. You can tell the weather by looking at that rock.

If it's Wet It's Raining
If it's Dry It's Not Raining
If it has a Shadow It's Sunny
If it's Moving It's Windy
If it's White on Top It's Snowing
If it's Hard to See It's Foggy
If it's Darker It's Night
If it's Jumping It's an Earthquake
If it's Gone It's a Tornado

Instead of using a weather rock, I've been known to drive a stake in the ground a few feet over and run a guy wire to the tripod.

 

[majorcatfish]

I have always grown Blue Lake bush beans in the garden. They produce very well and are great for freezing and canning. However, as I get older, I dread all the stooping and bending at harvest time. This year I would like to go with pole beans, but I have a question. I would normally plant four 50 foot rows of bush beans. How many pole beans would I need to equal the same production?

Marshall? Anyone?

understand all about the back.
love blue lake pole beans, yes they are very productive if you keep them picked
it all depends how much you are going to eat fresh and how much you plan to can.

we do 3 planting at different times 2 weeks apart that way they do not come on all at once, that way we can spread out the harvest throughout the season.

as for the set up that's up to you, you seam to be a very ingenious person!!!!
here we place 8' poles<3/4" conduit> in the ground with 6' above ground and spread them 9' apart<conduit comes in 10' sticks>tie them 6" on each side.
tie hemp or a natural fiber twine in a 8" zig zag pattern.

and run a soaker hose along the middle of the bottom horizontal and plant 6" on each side of the hose at a rate of 6" per bean.
as the bean grows start training them, after that they keep climbing.
once they slow down, just cut the twine and throw the vines and twine in the compost pile, the next planting should be kicking in and so on...

when planting pole beans or any vining vegetable it's best to plant them on the north side of the garden, so they do not block the sun to the rest of the garden.
hope that this helps...
in no way a expert, just use what's best.....

 

[so lucky]

It looked to me like using a cattle panel set up like the greenhouse that digit'S linked us to the video of, would be a great pole bean support. And a great playhouse for the little ones, too.(was that a dangling participle up there?)

 

[bj taylor]

who knew? a person can get the day's chuckle AND learn a thing or two at the same time. amazing.

 

[MontyJ]

For teepees I'm just going to lash three 2x2's together, spread them out and hand a length of twine from the top down to the center where I will drive a tent stake. Pull the twine tight and tie it to the stake. It won't go anywhere. I grow my tomatoes in an A frame configuration. Maybe I have some pics somewhere...


ETA:
Here is the only one I could find:

I know there are more somewhere, but I can't find them. I have waayyy to many pictures.