I planted Romanos last summer and they went up a trellis of 6x6 concrete reinforcing wire just fine. The growing tip will twine even if there are not tendrils. If your trellis is slat, you might have to train it or tie it.

julieann

Yes, pole beans will find their way up a trellis. I've seen only one pole bean that needs encouragement, and that's Fortex. Most of those plants eventually grab hold, but they keep growing in the meantime, so I like to push the growing tip over toward the trellis and even use a leaf to hook it into the trellis so it can climb upwards in a counter-clockwise direction.

Below is a rather fun and funny discussion of which direction beans twine around trellis supports!

Here is a link that might be useful: How do pole beans climb?

Only if they don't pull it down!

Ha! That WAS a good thread, julieann. I remember it well. The funniest thing to me was how the OPer thought it was a dull question but the thread went on to become one of the most entertaining, not to mention educational. I still have fun showing my gardening friends how the vines wind in only one direction

Jim

Pole beans will do well on a trellis, that's the only way I grow them. They will twine around almost any vertical support, including fencing; but some varieties don't seem to like artificial supports, such as plastic or galvanized metal. Rusted metal (such as old fencing, or concrete remesh) works great.

Most of my trellises are strings run horizontally between fence poles, with vertical strings run between top & bottom bars. The verticals wrap around the horizontals on the way down. Takes some time to tie them each year, but I can build them in any length, and don't need to worry about storing lengths of fencing. Baler twine is cheap but strong, and you can just burn it vines & all at year's end.

Ditto Anney's comment on "Fortex". It acts like a cowpea, until it gets up a ways, sending out long runners almost horizontally. My favorite pole snap bean, but requires some training initially.

Fortex got the same black aphids that cow peas get here for me, hmmmmm....interesting. A bean that thinks it is a cow pea?

I just wanted to mention to Julieann_grow (since you are also in zone 9) that whatever trellis style you use, try to avoid direct contact of any pea or bean plant with metal. Metal gets burning hot in zone 9. I use branches and string/sisal/twine, or sometimes plastic coated poles. Branches work best for me, just because I have lots of them. They look pretty cool too.

Pole beans do great on a trellis. I was too cheap to go buy wire for a trellis so I used old christmas lights. They were the ntting lights that would go over bushes. I just strung them out between poles and they were very durable. My cukes also climbed them well so I was very happy wth the outcome.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Gardening

Lol, Chris, did you plug the light in and take a picture?

Do you know about Freecycle? Someone near you might have trellis material to give away. I've gotten tomato cages and rolls of wire that way, and given away plants and hundreds of pounds of tomatoes in good years.

Here is a link that might be useful: Freecycle

Bo I did not but I should have, that would have been funny. It did work very well though, lol.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Gardening

I use 16 ft cattle panels, i put two metal t-posts bend it over and put two more post makes a bean tunnel i use about 20. It also makes a good cool spot in the garden underneath. I plant on each side and they meet in the middle, the beans are easily picked as most hang in the center. Im 6'3 and still have plenty of room to work the tunnel....jus sayin....Gizz

Gizz I've seen grapes grown that way, the grapes hang below and are not only easy to pick, they stay cleaner and undamaged by sunscald. I've got a bowed cattle panel in a raised bed for beans myself.