Growing corn and beans together

george_athens · May 20, 2015

I am trying for the first time to grow pole beans on my corn plants, as it's supposed to be a good combination. The thing is, I read that corn needs a lot of nitrogen fertilizer, but beans are intolerant of it. So how does this work? People have experience with this combination?

George

Nematode · May 20, 2015

Growing any squash? You got two of the three sisters already!
The story they told us growing up was they put a fish in the hole then planted. Sorry I got nuthin' else.
Cornell says this:

http://blogs.cornell.edu/garden/get-...three-sisters/

Ken B · May 20, 2015

Carol Deppe's The Resilient Gardener has a great section on corn and beans. Some quick useful bits:

-- Plant the beans when the corn is about 4 inches tall -- give the corn a head start. Pre-soak the beans before planting, since it'll be harder to keep the soil wet enough to germinate seeds once the corn starts drinking from the soil.

-- If you're planting corn in groups of 3, one bean per group of 3. The bean plants will twine around all 3 plants and help keep them from falling over.

-- If you're planting beans in a corn patch, best practice is to plant the outer rows, and to space the stalks in that row 50% further apart than the rest of the rows.

-- From Carol's experience in Oregon, Withner White Cornfield is the best/mode shade-tolerant variety for planting deeper inside the corn -- for outer rows of the corn patch, all bean varieties will be fine.

george_athens · May 22, 2015

Thanks for the replies! I have already planted the corn and the beans and they are growing wonderfully. What I'm mainly concerned about though is how to fertilize them, since corn seems to need a lot of nitrogen, while beans do not seem to tolerate it.

May 20, 2015	#1
george_athens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 4	Growing corn and beans together I am trying for the first time to grow pole beans on my corn plants, as it's supposed to be a good combination. The thing is, I read that corn needs a lot of nitrogen fertilizer, but beans are intolerant of it. So how does this work? People have experience with this combination? George

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May 20, 2015	#2
Nematode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: massachusetts Posts: 1,710	Growing any squash? You got two of the three sisters already! The story they told us growing up was they put a fish in the hole then planted. Sorry I got nuthin' else. Cornell says this: http://blogs.cornell.edu/garden/get-...three-sisters/

May 20, 2015	#3
Ken B Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: central Virginia Posts: 243	Carol Deppe's The Resilient Gardener has a great section on corn and beans. Some quick useful bits: -- Plant the beans when the corn is about 4 inches tall -- give the corn a head start. Pre-soak the beans before planting, since it'll be harder to keep the soil wet enough to germinate seeds once the corn starts drinking from the soil. -- If you're planting corn in groups of 3, one bean per group of 3. The bean plants will twine around all 3 plants and help keep them from falling over. -- If you're planting beans in a corn patch, best practice is to plant the outer rows, and to space the stalks in that row 50% further apart than the rest of the rows. -- From Carol's experience in Oregon, Withner White Cornfield is the best/mode shade-tolerant variety for planting deeper inside the corn -- for outer rows of the corn patch, all bean varieties will be fine.

May 22, 2015	#4
george_athens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 4	Thanks for the replies! I have already planted the corn and the beans and they are growing wonderfully. What I'm mainly concerned about though is how to fertilize them, since corn seems to need a lot of nitrogen, while beans do not seem to tolerate it.