The limiting criterium, Jim, seems to be how you configure your "trellis," rather than how you space the seed.

So, if you're talking about just growing up a pole, you can reduce those numbers to inches rather than feet. That is, plant your seeds 4 inches away from each pole, spaced appropriately.

But if you actually have 3-4 feet, then build a tipi of string. You could space the stings a foot or so apart, then plant 3-4 seeds around each one.

If you actually have rows of room, I would consider setting up a string trellis for as long as it needs to be. Using #9 wire, top and bottom, and the occasional post to hold everything up, Bill Best grows in rows 300 feet long on nothing but string.

My permanent trellises are six feet long, with strings spaced 4 inches apart. I plant one seed 4" outboard of each string, on both sides, and one seed centered between the strings. With this set-up I can grow 50 plants in a space measuring only 6' by (in theory) 8". In actuality, by beds are 6 x 2 feet.

I hope this is right. I have a 24 foot trellis. strings on both sides, 4 inches apart. i put a seed every 2 inches. The slugs usually get half of them so I end up with 1 plant per string.

VeggieCanner, "right" is whatever works.

I'm trying to envision your trellis. When you say strings on both sides, does that mean they are coming off it on a diagonal? If so, how far out do they come at the base?

You might try pre-starting your beans, as you're doing with peas. Give them about 3 weeks head start, and they'll likely be big enough to withstand the slug attacks.

"I'm such a windbag. Must be the beans."

:>)

In addition to the four foot row spacing, my trellises are oriented in a north/south direction. So they all recieve plenty of sun, without shading each other.

My trellis is a permanat one. There is 4 4x4's to make it 24 foot long.Then there is 2x4 wooden stringers top and bottomwith the the bottom ones about 3 foot apart.(looks like a A-frame from the end) Then the strings go from one side at the bottom over the top and back to the bottomon the other side. So I accually get 48 foot of row.
If I ever get the thing to work right and not loose half to slugs, I'll remove one of the rows and grow summer squash in its place.

Thanks everyone.

Zeedman, I like the tome you wrote. I had to wait two days for you to get it done, but it was worth the wait. Your new nick name will be "Windy". :-)

Jim

VeggieCanner, if you remove the ground-level two by twices you'll eliminate one place where the slugs can hide. It stays dark and damp under that wood.

Replace them with #9 wire, and you'll be good to go.

Three feet separation of the bottom anchors is more than you need. It doesn't hurt to have it, but you can close that up by half without hurting productivity in the least. The fact is, most of us who use that sort of string trellis go straight up and down, with just one anchor.

Something to consider. If you leave the anchors spread that far apart, plant lettuce, spinach, or other hardy greens in the space between them. You'll extend the season on them by at least three weeks, because the beans will shade and cool them. Other possibilities are radishes, turnips, and celery---if you use drip irrigation, because the celery requires far more water than beans can handle.

I was just thinking that the bottom cross stringers were causing the slug problem. Last year the bean trellis was one of the few places left that had slug problems. It is one of the few places left that have wood left for them to hide. I one one other pole bean trellist that I use wire with and there was alot less slug problems there.
I am starting to think If I can get the one side of the trellis producing better I could grow cukes on the other side. They should climb the strings no problem.

Depends a lot on the variety. Cukes, in general, are not strong climbers and usually need both crosspieces and a lot of help.

It'll take a little longer, but you can modify your approach slightly for the cukes. After setting your vertical (in your case, diagnonal) strings, weave horizontal ones across every six inches or so. That will help. But you'll likely still have to give the plants a helping hand, particularly in the beginning.

Hi, thanks for all the info on this thread, and the humor! BTW, am I the only one growing pole beans on bamboo teepees? They've been great, and I've had no shading or disease issues in 10 yrs of veggie gardening. Sometimes I have had what must be "stunting", but not with most varieties. "Emerite" & "Trionfo Violetto" are especially happy on my teepees.

I learned the system from Cooks Garden and Gardeners Supply catalogs.

Been my experience that you either love tipis or you hate them.

In my case the later, for various reasons. I now go with PVC framed string trellises. The frames are left permanently in place, and the strings (jute) replaced each season.

It may or may not by symptomatic, but John Withee (the father of bean collecting), in his book, shows 8 ways of supporting pole beans, and seven of them use string.

Gardenlad -- Do you move the frames for crop rotation purposes? I garden in raised beds, so I am meticulous about rotation. Is there a PVC construct that I could build and move around? I will try to find John Withee book now. Thanks in advance for advice.

No, I don't move them. These are permanent beds, now in their fourth year of use, with no particular problems.

I've said it before, and will again: Crop rotation is a shuck. Even commercial growers don't do it anymore (Bill Best has grown tomatoes in the same field for more than 30 years, for instance). In the typical home garden it makes no sense because you can't rotate far enough away to matter.

The John Withee book is called "Growing & Cooking Beans." It's long out of print, but you can sometimes find it from used book dealers.

my trellis consist of two 12x10 ft oak pole's spaced 12 ft apart with #9 wire at the top and bottom with jute hay strings running vertical about 4 to 6 inches apart.works pretty good for bluelake poles beans' they are high climbers

james

Jim, in case you wanted to redesign and set your bean poles in a row with trellis material strung taut between the poles, Id recommend a trellis material that JohnnyÂs sells. I used it last summer and was pleased with it. We used pipes laid on top of the poles (and secured there) to strengthen the installation. Tied the trellis material to the pipes and the poles, good and taut.

We built several sections this way, each about 10 feet long. We used 8 or10-foot cedar posts spaced 10 feet apart. Used a fence-pole digger, and slipped rocks down the hole around the cedar posts. Pounded the rocks in good, so posts couldnÂt move. The installation stays up year round, trellis and all.

For me, stringing twine was time consuming, so this was my solution. The beans took to the trellis without problems, and the trellis was easily cleaned of dead vines before winter.

"The John Withee book is called "Growing & Cooking Beans." It's long out of print, but you can sometimes find it from used book dealers."

GardenLad, I found and read the book. Quite a primer on everything to do with every type of bean. It's also quite interesting to see his lists of beans, many of which seem to have disappeared. I thank you profusely for suggesting the book!

Well, OrganicBurro, as I said, he's the father of bean collecting. When he died he left his collection to SSE. It numbered 2,200 varieties.