Growing Climbing Beans

Latest Update 12th May 2021.

Climbing Beans 

• I grow 120 climbing bean plants in two batches of 60 each season direct sown in succession in October and February.
• To keep the bed busy for the rest of the year, a batch of climbing peas is sown in June. 
• Harvesting is spread over long periods provided beans are harvested continuously as soon as they reach maturity. 
• We feast on this bonanza, but still manage to put most of the harvest in the freezers.
• Melbourne's hot dry summers are ideal for growing climbing beans, especially when grown in rich and moist organic soil
• Organic climbing beans are very nutritious and find there way into most of our meals at harvest time.  Simply delicious.  

Details. 

• Binomial name:                                        Phaseolus vulgaris
• Family group:                                           Fabaceae.
• Variety:                                                    Blue Lake Climbing.
• Garden bed type:                                      Ecobed 2.
• Minimum sun per day:                              8 hours.
• Plant spacings (centres x rows):                150 x 255 mm.
  
• Weeks to harvest:                                     16 weeks.
• Good companion:                                     Beetroot. potato.
• Climate:                                                   Warm temperate.
• Geography:                                              Southern hemisphere. 

Nutrition.

• This food is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. 
• It is a good source of protein, thiamin, magnesium, potassium and manganese, and a very good source of dietary fibre and folate.
• More from nutrition data.self.com.

Maintain Healthy Plants

• This blogpage explains how I maintain healthy plants.  It describes how soil is prepared prior to planting, how to regulate the sun's intensity and how to help protect and feed plants through their leaves.

Propagate Plants Efficiently

•  This blogpage explains how I propagate seeds in a purpose built propagator.

Propagation Plan 2020.

• This blogpage tells you when to sow seeds.

Services Plan 2020.

• This blogpage tells you when to make compost and plan other garden/household related activities.

Growing Instructions. 

• Sow 10 climbing bean seeds individually in shallow drills on both sides of each of 3 1800mm lightweight twine trellises in an Ecobed (total of 60 seeds).  Water them in with dilute seaweed extract.
• The lightweight twine trellises hang between high and low cross members to provide support for these plants. 
• These trellis are installed between rows 1&2, 3&4, and 5&6.  The beans weave their leaders through the twine as they grow.

Harvesting and storage.

• Harvest the beans as they fill their pods.
• Picking beans early encourages more flower and pod formation.  Use a pair of scissors (or your finger nail) to snip the pods off the vine to avoid damaging them. 
• Climbing beans freeze well.  Just blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes, cool, dry and put them in your freezer in resealable bags. 

Organic Pest Control.

• Climbing beans, like most vegetables, are vulnerable to attack from certain pests in my garden.  My blog on "Controlling Garden Pests" explains a little about these pests and what to do to protect plants from them.  For details click on the appropriate link below.
• Slugs and snails.
• Greenhouse whitefly.
• Powdery mildew.