Pole Beans in container?

[Katmary]

I'm starting a bit late due to our weather, but have a question regarding pole beans. I'd been planning to grow a few varieties (Blue Lake, Dragon's Tongue, Violetta) in my wine barrel. I filled the soil to the top and am letting it drain, but the weather just spiked into the 90's. First, should I start the seeds inside or in the container? Second, how many can go in half a wine barrel?

One other question is I read people can grow pole beans in 12 inch deep containers as long as the trellis was set up well. Is this true? I figured they'd need a deeper amount of room. If this is true, I have some extra peppers I can put in the barrel and plant the pole beans in different pots. With the price of pots this year, I'm ready to go straight for storage containers instead of pots, the prices are ridiculous even for plastic pots! Anyhow, if I could to two of each of the 3 beans for 6 pole beans in my barrel, that would be great, but am not sure if that's too many in one barrel. IF so, or if it'd be easier to do one/smaller pot or even get a windowsill-like plastic {pot" for them and have it under a trellis, that's an option as well. I sure would LOVE to put raised beds in here if only I could! Grrr!

Thanks for any help!

[dustdevil]

I've grown pole beans 3"-6" apart in the ground, but 6" apart would probably be better for your barrel. I'd get 8' tall bamboo for each plant to climb. Tilt them in and lash them together at the top like a teepee. Plant two seeds near the bottom of each stake and thin down to one if you get two to germinate. For germination, keep the seeds watered well, so they don't dry out. Make sure your teepee is anchored well, so it doesn't tip over. You could run a pole up the center for extra support.

[dustdevil]

P.S. You could also push each stake straight down around the outside and skip the teepee tilting and lashing.

[Marko]

I've grown pole beans in containers on my balcony for shadow. Start the seeds in the container. They don't need large containers, but expect to water them constantly in smaller ones.

[Tormato]

Dragon Tongue is a bush type, so there's no need of poles for that variety.

Tormato

[Katmary]

Thank you all for your answers! I've been wondering what to do as far as placing a teepee in there since it currently has a 6-7 foot tall trelllis for tomatoes, but since there are so many worms in there that came up through the bottom, I took out as much dirt as I could and chose to grow something else in there this year. I figured I could wind them around the trellis, but was reading Nicole's container growing book last night and she had also talked about putting seeds at the bottom, so I've been confused about what to do.

Hm, I bought my seeds from Reimers and Dragons Tongue was under Pole Beans, I'd better check that! OK, my bad, it's Rattlesnake Pole Beans. I remembered reading here someone really liked ones similar to Dragon's Tongue, so that had been a guide when I bought them!

So six total around the outside's not a good idea with them? I was hoping two of each would be okay. With where the barrel's located (and already full of dirt with the trellis), I'll have to wiggle it forward for more sun. I don't want to remove the trellis I had for tomatoes, but DO have a couple extra fence pieces I may be able to cut in half or buy some stakes and "spin" them around the stakes and the trellis.

I tried growing bush beans (4-5 plants) and managed 3 beans a week if I was lucky. It was also my first year gardening, and I'm working both with some tough ground and then am next to a greenbelt (and the only house front and other side that doesn't spray) so I get serious bugs here. The bush beans didn't do well at all, so I thought pole beans in the barrel would be something new to try. I have my tomatoes in ET's and they do great in them, so I guess I'll go stare at the barrel and try to figure out what to do!

Marko- that's tempting since most of my house gets direct sun from 11 AM to dusk! Perhaps I should be making pole bean shades instead of putting them in my barrel!!

Thanks for all your help. I DID buy the metal bars next to the bamboo bars, the 4 feet ones are 98 cents for metal, then $3 for bamboo at 4 feet. I picked ten for now since I have peppers too, but perhaps if I duct taped them into 8 inches, that would help a lot. In Nicole's book (the container garden book) she showed using wider stakes help with more room to wrap, so I'm definitely going to look for old ones from when the fence was done. I don't want to remove the trellis but who knows, I may be an avid bean grower next year instead!!!

PS- I was told soil innoculant's only needed if you grow to sell, but it's in a few of my veggie growing books. Do any of you use it?

Thanks in advance,
Kat

[dustdevil]

Kat, When it comes to pole beans, the narrower the pole, the better the beans wrap around it. Some people grow 'em up string/twine! My uncle uses bailing wire with a galvanized water pipe frame.

[kath]

Kat,
I'm not a pole bean expert, but when I grew them up stakes and slippery poles, they needed a lot of help in the beginning to grow upwards-I even had to tie them to the poles until they were a couple feet long. This year I tried trellis net and they latched right on and have needed no attention. If you could run strings from your trellis somehow, they would climb right up. As far as the size of the barrel, it seems to me that 6 pole beans wouldn't be too much for that size container. They do need sun though to do well and they love the heat, so planting in a heat wave is a good thing.
I used soil innoculant for years and then one year forgot to buy it and I saw no difference in production using the same kinds of beans I had grown previously. I'd say use what you have and keep it simple this year.

[Katmary]

Grr, lost my message! Dirt Devil, love that they can be grown just with twine, I'd never have thought of that!!!

Kath, you answered a few big questions of mine, such as innoculant. Glad to hear there wasn't much of a difference without it! It was recommended a lot in books, but a salesperson at a nursery said only use it if I was selling them at market. Since my bush beans were so bad I was leaning toward using it, but it sounds like my money would be better spent on netting to put over the PVC trellis! If I do it that way, I'll have some small, non-smooth stakes to get to the netting. I filled the barrel to the top since there are many worms in the bottom from the last few years and didn't want to disturb them.

SO, just to check, with the wine barrel, would 6 pole bean plants be the max, or would more fit? I know compared to bush beans they don't need as much root room for some reason, and wasn't sure how many to use. I have three different kinds and think they'd look great together, and don't have another place to plant them without cramming them together more. So, if I can do more than 6, that would be great! Thank you all for your help, and for answering this if you know the answer.

It's been frustrating looking at pots this year since even plastic ones are more expensive! I'm tempted to grow extra tomato plants in storage containers instead of buying large pots, the prices are crazy! I have my ETs, but want room for the couple determinates for free as well as some other things like peppers, and the price for a 12 inch pot at Lowes was over $4, whereas a large carry container for toys with rope handles and OSH was only a few dollars more, and I could put ALL My peppers in that! Off my soapbox, but would love to hear recommendations on the amount of plants max for the wine barrel! Thank you all so very much!

Kat

[kath]

Kat,
One thing that concerns me is that you only got 3 beans a week from 4-5 bush bean plants. Even without innoculant, something's not right. Production from an area of bush beans vs. the same area in pole beans is WAY less, but 3 beans is WAY lower than it should be. Even for 2 people, I would plant at least a dozen bush bean plants at a time; I'd have to pick them at least every other day, and there would be enough beans to eat every day plus some to share with neighbors. They do need full sun to produce well. What kind of soil mix are you using in the wine barrel? I would think that you could grow more than 6 pole beans in a wine barrel, but I'd make sure that each plant got the most sun possible. When I used the bamboo lashed together at the top, the plants in the back (north side) didn't do as well and the plants got all crowded together at the top. I like dustdevil's suggestion about the poles straight up better. If you get better sun on only the front part of the barrel, I'd plant in a semi-circle or straight line in the sunniest part. I planted 8 pole beans the first year and it was WAY too many beans for us. Just random thoughts to consider. Sending you a PM about something I found somewhere else that might be helpful.

[Tormato]

Bean innoculant (rhizobium) is a very low cost one time application. It's live bacteria, that doesn't need to be replenished.

Tormato

[kath]

Originally Posted by Tormato

Bean innoculant (rhizobium) is a very low cost one time application. It's live bacteria, that doesn't need to be replenished.

Tormato

Assuming you grow the beans in the same spot year after year though, no?

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by kath

Assuming you grow the beans in the same spot year after year though, no?

Kath,

I'm so cheap.......(drum roll)....... instead of buying another packet of innoculent, I moved some of the innoculated soil to all of the other parts of the garden.

Trmat

[kath]

Originally Posted by Tormato

I'm so cheap.......(drum roll)....... instead of buying another packet of innoculent, I moved some of the innoculated soil to all of the other parts of the garden.

Trmat

I love it, Tormato! I stopped buying it after all the garden areas had grown innoculated beans or peas, but your idea is really thrifty!

[Katmary]

Kath,

The reason things were so lousy with the bush beans was very likely because I'm surrounded by oak trees, and the ground is loaded with roots and rocks. My tomatoes did well, but I spent a good day digging out the area, flipping the dirt, and digging in all kinds of goodies. I tore out the "pretty bushes" in one small area, and now they're lined with ET's for my tomatoes. I'll definitely have to move my wine barrel to a different area, but the reason I was so interested in container gardening and eventually both it and ET's were because in the ground wasn't as easy, and rotating where I planted was impossible. I've learned more about fertilizer and use fish emulsion as well since then!

I love the idea of planting in the same place! Heck, because so many earthworms came through the bottom of the barrel, I decided to let them stay and not plant tomatoes in it for a change this year which is why I wanted to try beans. I also had the bush beans my first year gardening. I ended up with so many tomatoes and peppers I started real late so I guess some buckets will also be in the yard!

Thank you all so much for your help! I'm going without innoculant this year since I want to get the netting over the PVC trellis and need more containers, then will order the innoculant next year with a few goodies I want. I'll let you know how it goes!

Kat