Pole beans
Vegetable · warm season · also called climbing bean, runner bean
When to plant
- Sow seeds outdoors about 1 week after your average last spring frost.
- Ready to harvest about 65 days after planting.
Produce longer than bush beans. Give a 6–8 ft support.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours)
- Spacing
- 6 in (trellised)
- Soil temperature
- At least 60°F
- Time to harvest
- About 65 days
- Containers
- At least 3 gallons
- Plant family
- Bean and pea family (legumes)
- Harvest per plant
- About 0.5 lb
- Seeds keep
- About 3 years
Companions
Good neighbors: Sweet corn, Winter squash, Cucumber
Keep apart: the onion family (alliums). Onions and garlic can stunt beans and peas.
Keep apart: Horseradish. Horseradish spreads aggressively. Give it its own spot.
Keep apart: Mint. Mint spreads aggressively into neighbors. Keep it in a pot.
Keep apart: Fennel (bulb). Fennel slows the growth of most garden plants. Grow it on its own.
Keep apart: Sunflower. Sunflowers release compounds that can slow beans.
Keep apart: Sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke). Sunchokes spread aggressively and shade neighbors.
Varieties to try
- Fortex 60 days: long, stringless filet bean
- Kentucky Wonder 65 days: classic heirloom
- Blue Lake Pole 65 days: tender, productive
- Rattlesnake 70 days: streaked pods, heat-tolerant
Pests and problems
Grow it well
Tips
- Grow up, not out. In a small space, give cucumbers, pole beans, and peas something to climb. They grow more in the same patch of ground, and the fruit is easier to find.
- Pick beans, zucchini, and cucumbers often. These plants keep making more as long as you keep picking. Let one fruit get big and seedy, and the plant slows down. Check every day or two in summer.
- Put supports in at planting time. Set cages, stakes, and trellises when you plant, not when the plant starts to flop. Pushing them in later breaks roots and stems.
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