I've just sown two varieties of climbing French beans in modules - Cobra and Cherokee Trail of Tears.
I've grown them before very successfully, though last ytear wasn't so good; I'm blaming the cold spring. This year I think I might grow them up canes rather than up nets, as I've done in the past.
The question is, what's the best spacing for maximum yield? There seems to be some disagreement/confusion between the books I've got and what it says on the packets: 8-12 inches apart seems to be the concensus, but there's no agreement on whether one or two plants per cane is best, and that's quite a difference.
Spacing for climbing French beans
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Same here one plant per cane and 12 inches apart. I got a great harvest with Blue Lake climbing french beans.
Sarahlee
www.vegetable-gardens.co.uk/forum
www.vegetable-gardens.co.uk/forum
At the risk of prolonging this unneccessarily... Last night I looked up what the normally sensible book Square Foot Gardening says about this. For pole beans, which I take to be climbing French beans, the book recommends plants 3 inches apart in a double row - 32 across a 4 ft bed. I really don't believe this can be good practice.
Hello Ken
Both these varieties are very vigorous so I would use 1 plant per pole 12" apart as a minimum spacing - if you can spare the room, give them more space. If you are growing 'Trail of Tears' for dry beans certainly give them more space so that the pods can mature properly.
John
Both these varieties are very vigorous so I would use 1 plant per pole 12" apart as a minimum spacing - if you can spare the room, give them more space. If you are growing 'Trail of Tears' for dry beans certainly give them more space so that the pods can mature properly.
John
Hi Ken,
Sadly there are always people trying to get a quart out of a pint pot and John's advice is as good as it comes.
Maybe just as an experiment the square foot gardening method should be grown alonside a properly spaced crop.
Sadly there are always people trying to get a quart out of a pint pot and John's advice is as good as it comes.
Maybe just as an experiment the square foot gardening method should be grown alonside a properly spaced crop.
JB.
Thanks, everyone, for good advice. A trial would be a good idea, Johnboy, but I doubt whether I'll have room. It's commonly the case, though, that if you try to cram too many plants into a limited space, you actually get a lower yield than you would giving them decent elbow room.
Hi Johnboy. I've since queried the spacings given in the Sqyare Foot Gardening book with their official website. They've come back and said that, assuming we are talking about the same thing - i.e. that their pole beans are what we call climbing French beans - and that the supports are vertical, they've had no problems with the spacings they recommend. And 'why don't you try it in one square foot?' I might just do that!