It will depend on where you are in the bay area and what your micro climate is like. I lived for forty years in the Pajaro valley about five miles from the beach of the Monterey bay. This is now largely used for growing summer lettuce and strawberries. About 30 years ago a couple of farmers put in a few acres of pole beans. That year we had a virtually fog free summer and the beans produced like crazy, the farmers made a lot of money. Next year about 10 more farmers planted pole beans, the normal foggy summer returned and some were bankrupted. If you have a full sun location, NO SUMMER FOGS, good air circulation, you should have a lot of success with pole beans. Al

where i live in sf never had success with pole beans but bush beans do okay, not enough consecutive warm days

Pole beans are one of my most successful crops. I've grown them both here in Rohnert Park and Petaluma and they take off like weeds. I plant them in monthly succession plantings starting 5/15, then again 6/15 and 7/15. The last batch would have kept producing past Halloween if I hadn't pulled them to make room for broccoli.

It's odd to hear they don't like fog, as I consider myself in a foggy zone. But maybe there's fog, and then there's FOG. Where I live, we have foggy mornings, but it's usually burned off by noon. I've created a toasty microclimate in my yard by rocking the paths and raising the beds. Once we do get our sunshine, I'm sucking the most of it that I can.

Last year, I believe I grew Blue Lake--whatever type they were selling at Friedmans. This year, I'm trying Fortex. My only problem with them is cucumber beetles, and the fact that they outgrow my trellis.

Here they are on the right:
{{gwi:506722}}

you are right loribee2, i have FOG, no burn off by noon. it's a nice day if it burns off by noon, lol.just in time for the fog to roll back in at sundown, june july and august is foggy and cold here in the fog belt of SF. but i can grow pea pods, lettuce , cool season stuff quite well but no pole beans or corn.what a beautiful garden you have

I love Rattlesnake and Purple-Pod pole beans, because they are very sweet and "beany", plus they are easy to see, and therefore pick, before they get too large. There aren't a whole lot of yellow pole beans, they all seem to be bush.

Carla in Sac

Hi,
I had a lot of success with pole beans in San Jose, especially Kentucky Wonder as I recall, a delicious pole type of green bean (first bean I ever grew and plan on growing it this year). You can also do the purple pole for variety, and they may tolerate some fog better. If in a really foggy area, suggest fava beans and to look for fast maturing green bean varieties (both pole and bush). I use to go down to Stanford a lot and lived in Sunnyvale for awhile (I believe you are in Menlo Park according to your bio), so I think you will have a lot of sun with some good temps, provided you are not blocked by trees or buildings. I'll gladly send you a bunch of seeds if you want. I have several pole/bush, including the ones mentioned, along with soy beans. It is harder for me to grow beans in Vallejo where I am at more likely then where you are at, though I will give it another "Go" this year (2010 seemed to be a bit mild with crazy temp fluxes). If you don't get the seeds from me, I do suggest getting "Lake Valley Seeds", which most nurseries seem to carry (you can get them at Payless Nursery in San Jose, and at Summerwind in Palo Alto, etc). I seem to enjoy more success with this seed house (better crops and more of a harvest), then others, though you can't order these seeds online.
If you want the seeds, then just let me know. You will have to send the postage, the small containers for the beans, and the envelope or postal flat, but the seeds are otherwise free.
Happy planting!
Ken

Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences! I am in Menlo Park and get decent sun (morning fog burns off quickly in the summer), so hopefully these beans will work for me.

Loribee, I am looking at your photo and trying to figure out what structure you've provided for the beans to grow on--are those wooden trellises? Or tepees made out of stakes?

The pole beans that have been popping up at the local farmer's market have been Romano, anyone tried those?

Here's a picture taken earlier in the season. I tried fan trelises because I had them laying around and I thought it would be fun. Planted about 8 beans around the bottom of each and the vines ended up spilling over the top long before they were done growing. This year, I'm thinking about making some sort of arch you can walk under. That will end up either being a really good idea or a really bad one. :-D

I think if you get regular afternoon sun, you shouldn't have any problem growing pole beans.

{{gwi:59390}}

On the farm we always grew them on tee pee type supports, which are easy to put up and take down, and the poles are easy to store. One advantage is that the roots are at least two from each other in their own space. We always planted three seeds in each hill, it did not matter if your seed did not germinate at 100%. Al

I'm close to Menlo Park. I sow in April, but my buddy in Belmont goes a little earlier. He can grow some beans! And yes succession planting is good.
You might check out The Common Ground store on College Ave. in Palo Alto off the El Camino. Nice organic nursery type store. They carry lots of neat seeds and probably can give advice on supports too. Close to you.

I actually started my beans already. Using wintersowing, I have started long beans, edamame, bush beans and shell peas. I have quite a few sprouts already in milk jugs. I can vouch for the Common Ground Store on California Ave.

OT: Are you Zone 10? Somehow when I searched MP using my zipcode, I came up with 8B. Have I been wrong all this time?

Here I plant mid april, mid july, and this year for the first time mid-september. I got three pounds of beans for Thanksgiving dinner from my mid-september planting. Then we had a couple of unusually cold nights (mid 30's) and that kind of killed them off. I've planted in the beginning of March, but they just sit there until mid-april anyway, so I plant later now. Beans are generally really easy, but if the soil is quite cold they slow way down and wait for warmer conditions.

Beans planted after the soil warms are very fast growers and I think nothing is gained by planting before then. Al

Please give me the solution to the Aphid problem here in the central valley??I have tried just about everything on the organic insecticide and they don't work for me.

"Organic insecticide"? Have you tried ladybugs or green lacewings? Those take care of aphids appearing in my garden in a couple of days. Maybe your insecticides are killing all the good bugs too.

Carla in Sac

Yes I have used the bug's but you have to keep the moisture just right otherwise they leave the garden in a few day's,Then the cost factor comes to play.They make a non organic systemic called ADMIRE and PRAVADO that the commercial boy's use and it works great but it is not for sale at your local nursery and it only comes in 2 and 1/2 gallon containers.If I had a miniture tractor with an orchard sprayer attachment and of course a trained mouse to operate this contraption maybe then I could attain 100% coverage of EVERY leaf on say the cucumbers and melons and such and therefore rid myself of the aphids!The farm advisor and myself have discussed this problem in detail and he states that the aphids continue to build up resistance to the sprays that are currently on the market and when you find something that works it gets outlawed the very next year!I just joined this forum and I hope to hear some type of cure soon otherwise the non organics will have to be used.Thanks for the reply to my problem.