You want to plant pole beans and ask yourself: How, where, what and when? Then you are in the right place!
I love pole beans. They are very easy to care for, give a high yield and you can even plant them on the balcony.
Because they grow in height, they are ideal for those who have little space.
And let's face it, there's nothing better than a green bean salad with green beans on the side.
The vegetables also look good in vegetable soups.
And because we are not supposed to leave the house at the moment anyway, a small green balcony comes just in time.
Table of contents
Whether you choose the purple, yellow, or green pole beans, it doesn't make a difference taste-wise.
I prefer to use the blue Hilde, because I like the color of the flowers and beans so much. When cooking, however, the purple color says goodbye and the pods turn green. By the way, at Amazon there is also a mix of different varieties :)
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You can also stock up online at many garden stores. I recently made a real splash because the range of different varieties is so large.
My selection:
- Matilda - particularly tender and high-yielding
- Blauhilde - Purple flowers and purple beans
- Red pea bean - with red speckled pods
- Striking - particularly long green beans
What location you need to plant pole beans
The very best news first: planting and caring for pole beans is mega easy. They have hardly any demands on the soil. They love soil that is rich in humus, deep and not crusted.
I grow my green beans in a flower pot. In the pot with a diameter of 40 cm I planted 5 beans in potting soil. And the yield is really huge.
For growth beans need a warm and sunny place. They are not big fans of wind, because their flowers and the small pods can break off very easily.
If the soil is warm enough, they can thrive in partial shade.
The purple, yellow or white flowers attract bees and other insects. Because of the large leaves, growing pole beans is also a good idea if you like to have a privacy screen.
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How and when you can sow and plant pole beans
You have found the ideal location? Then you can start sowing. You can often find pre-pulled plants in garden centers. But you can save the money. Because pole beans plants you can grow yourself quite inexpensively.
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Important to know: pole beans are sensitive to frost and should be sown only from May!
Between May and the end of June you can plant and sow pole beans. They begin to germinate at 8-10 degrees soil temperature. The warmer it is, the faster they see the light.
Tip: Put the Soak bean seeds in water overnight, then they germinate faster.
Very important: pole beans absolutely need a good climbing support! You can order a climbing aid set from Amazon.
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Pre-cultivation is not necessary for pole beans. However, you can do it in case you have pests in the garden that target the seeds.
For pre-breeding, take the seeds and put them in pots, each 8 cm in diameter, at about 20 degrees room temperature. Make the pot half full with soil and moisten it. Then put the seed in the pot and then cover the seed with soil.
Insert a small popsicle stick or wooden skewer into the soil as soon as the first leaves appear. This is where your runner bean plants can take hold.
Now you have to accustom them slowly to the lower temperatures outside. To do this, carry them outside for hours at a time and back inside in the evening. After about a week, the plants are ready to be released into the wild.
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Planting pole beans on the balcony
As I said, you do not need to advance beans. It is much easier if they are sown immediately. You have two options. Either you plant the runner beans in a pot or in the garden.
What you ultimately decide is up to you. In both cases, however, your plants need a climbing aid. I simply use the balcony railing for this. But beans also like to climb up bamboo canes or a fence. Depending on the soil, pole beans can grow up to 3 meters high.
Who decides like me for the pot must proceed as follows
- The pot should be at least 40 cm in diameter
- Take 5-6 seeds
- Fill the pot 3/4 with soil, moisten the soil and put the seeds on it
- Cover the beans with about 2 cm earth and put them in a sunny place
- Keep the soil moist but do not overdo it with watering
- After 7 to 14 days the first plantlets should be visible
From too much water or even standing water in the pot, the plants and seeds do not think much. They begin to rot.
Planting pole beans in the garden
If you put the beans in the garden, you first need to build a climbing support.
It should be anchored in the ground 30-40 centimeters, so that it can not fall over. Immediately after germination, the first tendrils will form. As a climbing aid, you can use round wooden poles that you tie together to form pyramids or simply leave them standing straight up in the air.
Bamboo poles tied together in the shape of a tent are also a good option. With me they climb an old rose arch :)
The beans start to climb by themselves, usually you do not need to help. Did you know that beans always grow counterclockwise? If you want to help them wrap around the climbing aid, you should keep this in mind.
Tip: If you get a metal trellis, then you can use it again next year. A very robust and height-adjustable climbing aid, extendable up to 2.80 meters, you can order online.
Per stick or rod you take 5-6 bean seeds.
Important: Runner beans love loose soil. Therefore, before planting, be sure to loosen the soil well, at least 20 centimeters in depth. Mix in a little humus or grass.
Everything else goes quite the same. 2 centimeters of soil on the seeds is ideal for the beans to germinate quickly.
Pole beans in the garden you hardly need to water. They get their water themselves. In the period of flowering to fruiting runner bean plants need the most water. You should water the bed thoroughly once a week.
Regular loosening of the soil increases the yield.
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What diseases and pests get beans
Right at the beginning, voles make it difficult for your beans. If they do manage to get the first leaves out of the ground, the next danger lurks: slugs.
Slugs love the young and tender shoots of beans. Against this helps pre-breeding in small pots. After all, once the plants are large, snails are no longer interested in them.
A little later, aphids, stem base rot and root rot are added. You can avoid this at least to some extent if you choose the right location. If you pay attention to loose soil and do not overwater, then you have already done a lot for the health of the plants.
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With what vegetables you should not plant pole beans
Have you ever heard of mixed culture? This is when you make sure that you put plants next to each other that get along well with each other. So do not take away each other's nutrients and protect each other from pests. Voles and slugs love beans!
Bad neighbors for beans are
- Peas
- Fennel
- Garlic
- Leeks
- Onions
On the other hand, they are particularly well with savory, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbage, beet, tomatoes and celery.
You can grow beans in the same place for three years in a row. After that, your soil should take a break for two years.
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What you need to pay attention to when harvesting green beans
About 10 weeks after planting pole beans, you can look forward to harvesting. You can harvest the beans as long as they are not yet visible through the pod. If you can already see them clearly, just let them dry on the plant as seeds for next year.
You can tell if they're ready to harvest by a little test. Break through a bean. If it breaks through smoothly and the area is green and juicy, you have the optimal time.
Pick the legumes by snapping them off with your fingers or cutting them with scissors.
What might be exciting for you is that you should not harvest beans in bad weather. This increases the likelihood that the plants will get a fungal disease.
Your beans will be happiest if you harvest in the morning. If you pick every 2-4 days, pole bean plants will produce new pods regularly.
After harvesting
- you process the beans best as soon as possible
- they remain crisp and fresh for about 2 days
- store the runner beans in a damp kitchen towel so that they stay fresh
- boil the beans and freeze the ones you can't eat, preferably right away
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Our conclusion
Planting runner beans on the balcony, on the terrace and in small gardens works out wonderfully. All that the easy-care vegetable plants need is sun, water and a climbing support.
Have fun and good harvest! :)
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