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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Pole bean trellising

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  • From: Heirloom Grower <heirloomgrower AT gmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Pole bean trellising
  • Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:00:04 -0500

My husband made a permanent trellis for me using pieces of hat channel left over from a construction job. Not sure how expensive these are, but they are extremely stable. It is probably 7 feet tall, with the four uprights buried a foot or so deep. Additional pieces are fastened securely across the top. The first year, I grew tomatoes supported with baling twine on them. The next year, some beans. This year, I have some snow peas planted there. I use the baling twine for training, but the configuration depends on what I am growing there. The basic structure is very, very sturdy, and I am hoping to have several more constructed this year.
 
Elise

On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 4:26 PM, Ken Bezilla <kenbez AT hotmail.com> wrote:
Does anyone have a pole bean trellis method that they're happy with?

For small plantings, I've used 5' tall concrete reinforcing wire clipped to 8' t-posts, spacing the t-posts every 8-10', then run twine across the top of the t-posts to give the vines an extra foot or two to climb up.  It's very stable, but a high-cost investment, moreso now with steel prices being so high.

For larger plantings, we use 6' t-posts to reinforce 8' tall 2"x2" posts, spacing the posts 8-10' apart, and use Hortonova netting between the posts.  The materials are cheaper... but we've had trouble with the posts falling over in September when the trellis is heavy with vines and there's a heavy windstorm... or the netting slipping off the posts and collapsing to the ground.  We're able to re-use the netting if we roll up the netting to sit around all winter, then strip the vines off in the spring once they're thoroughly dried.

Any ideas?

Ken Bezilla
Acorn Community Farm
central VA


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