Aphids do like them as do deer. I am not organic so I have no problem with aphids or curculio. Deer are something else.

I haven't had any problems growing here in NH BUT they are not like green/yellow beans. I haven't been able to find/cook a recipe my family enjoys. I think it's mostly a problem of thinking they should taste like the other beans but they are quite different.

This was my fourth summer growing them. I haven't seen any aphids on them to date.

The flavor is different -- subtle and quite delicious, but definitely NOT the same flavor as "regular" beans. I think the best way to describe the flavor is like a mixture of asparagus and white button mushrooms cooked together.

I grew them for the first time and they were a big hit, especially the red variety. No aphids. I had these close enough to the house that deer didn't bother them but for sure any legume is deer-candy.

Around this house people will eat any kind of string bean if garlic-fried like chinese restaurants do.

Thanks for the info, everyone. Yes, I thought they would taste like a regular bean. I will definitely try some if I can find the seeds. pnbrown, what's your recipe for garlic frying them? It sounds delicious! We don't have a deer problem here. Too many hunters. In and out of season.

I've never had any aphids, but the kudzu beetles do like them, however they seem fairly tolerant to them. You don't boil or cook yard long beans as you do other beans. Basically they are a cow pea with an edible hull. Taste is fantastic stir fried. We cut them up, stir fry them for like 4 minutes and crushed garlic and maybe some hot pepper, stir fry a bit longer. Sometimes make a brown sauce and and eat it over rice. This is how I learned to eat these beans, Schezuan style as a child. Mmmm, good stuff! I have red yard long bean seeds Zackery (if you need), they grow burgundy pods and are beautiful!

I never saw a kudzu beetle. I will have to look that up. I would love to have some of your seeds.

No aphids at this MI location either, they like it hot, which you have in GA, and they taste good. Not as productive as other pole beans, though.

Yep, that's the ticket, quick stir fry in olive oil or grape-seed oil and throw in minced garlic toward the end.

They need a very tall trellis. Six feet was not enough, it seemed more like 10 to 12. I would like to hear how others have successfully trellised them.

I grew the green variety and could send a few of the seeds I saved.

Daryl

Agreed, they could use most any amount of trellis.

There are several bush varieties.

I never had any other pole bean. But mine , Chinese long beans,were very, very productive . Did not use any pesticides either. Prob insects left alone cause they got into everthing else....I previously several years had just the Cherokee yellow bean.. I grew them around perimeter of front yard garden on a 2 1/2 foot fence and added several(3) taller trellis. Length was about 15ft feet long or so Unfortunately I bought more bush bean seeds. Dang it. A pain to pick leaning over and about tearing up the bush looking for the beans. Pole beans easier to me
Just chiming in
Jean

Chime in anytime jeanwedding. I grew bush lima beans this year and practically had to lay on the round to pick them. They were too hard to open for me. No more bush plants for me.

Bush beans are why we have grandchildren around. They're lower to the ground so it's easier for them.

I don't have any children or grandbabies. I tried to borrow my neighbor's grandboys, but she never brought them down. They are good workers.

Regarding trellis ... I use a 14 foot long section of concrete remesh attached to T-posts. The lower wire of the remesh fits into the spade clete so that it is above ground (to prevent rusting in the acid soil). I have 5 T-posts which makes for a 3.5 ft spacing between the posts. The remesh is 5 ft wide which makes it 5 ft tall... which is not high enough for longbeans as noted above. So I have a 3 ft wide piece of 2 X 4 in fence wire attached to the remesh via supporting poles/rods. There is a 1 ft overlap with the remesh which makes the total trellis height 7 ft. This trellis works well for me; I am able to reach longbeans at the top. (I have a photo but am unable to access Photobucket from this PC. I believe the photo shows in the GW forum thread below.)

Here is a link that might be useful: GW Forum Posting

Grew VERY well here in NC. No bugs, grew like wildfire. Pick them when about 12-15 inches long for best taste. I like to pre-steam them till just about done; then stir fry with garlic & butter. Also, they make wonderful fried green beans; like PF Chang's.

Thanks for the picking advice, BB7777. I can hardly wait to taste them!

Thanks to those of you that sent me seeds! I can hardly wait to plant them and see them grow and then to taste them....Ahhhh.... I love garlic.

My husband and I prefer our long beans steamed just like green beans. For awhile I prepared them stir fried and we didn't think we liked them. One evening I steamed them like I do regular green beans and we found that we loved them.
Be sure to pick daily. They grow really fast and become spongy. They're much better before getting spongy.
I did have aphid problems but daily spraying with water not only took care of the aphids, it greatly increased the blossoms and production.
So glad we finally found a green bean that could produce in AZ summer. One of the few things producing in July/August.

I'd rather eat them steamed. I get dizzy stir frying. I'll have to get hubby to be the stir fryer. He loves garlic more than me. Glad you found something to grow in AZ. My friends just moved there a few months ago from LA. Big change for them. That's teh one good thing about aphids, you can usually blast them away!

Most yardlongs do well here, although I need to start the pole varieties in pots to get good results & harvest dry seed. There are quite a few varieties floating around, with pods that are many shades of green, reddish purple, or combinations of green & red. The photo below shows 4 varieties that I grew in 2010:
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This is an example of some of the diversity available. From top down: "Yancheng Bush", from a GW swap; a black-seeded variety originally from Jungs (given to me, name lost); "Chinese Red Noodle" (from Baker Creek); and "Galante", a variety from the Philippines. Although I prefer the pole varieties, I've come to appreciate the rapid maturity of the bush variety.

Haven't really had trouble with aphids here, except early in the season... my beneficial insect population generally wipes them out about mid-summer most years. The exceptions are when the ant population is high; they "farm" aphids & spread them rapidly. If I wipe out the ant nest(s), predators take care of the aphids.

Yardlongs (like cowpeas, to which they are related) will attract beneficial insects when they begin to bloom. Ladybugs & wasps will frequent the vines... it's one of the best ways I know to keep adult ladybugs in the garden. The wasps are not much of a problem, the nectar seems to pacify them. But ants can be attracted to the extra-floral nectaries located below the flowers, and these will defend the tops of the pods aggressively. Black ants are only a minor nuisance, but I've had carpenter ants on the vines a few years, and they bite.

I concur with those recommending a tall trellis. The bean trellises I use are 6 & 1/2 feet tall, supported by T-posts, and the vines will easily take that & more. They might need some encouragement to get started, though; "Red Noodle" can be particularly stubborn in that regard. If you want to use a shorter support, crowd them closely & it will stunt the vines. You can grow them without support, but the long pods will trail on the ground, and bugs/snails tend to bite holes in them.

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The black-seeded yardlong on a tall trellis

Tracydr's comment about watering is a good one. The pods will indeed get spongy quickly if conditions are dry, especially in hot weather. With a heavy mulch & frequent deep watering, the pods stay succulent to a larger diameter. Last year we had record summer rainfall here, and while my pole beans languished in the mud, the yardlongs thrived - my best year ever. Don't spare the water!

"Chinese Red Noodle" is one of the best varieties I've tried for flavor, and is firmer cooked than some of the others. It is also a heat lover, so it does well in the South. When cooked, it turns grayish; but a dash of vinegar restores the deep burgundy color.

The wife usually uses yardlongs in stir fry or soups. We also eat them as a vegetable, lightly cooked & seasoned with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic powder. "Red Noodle" is outstanding eaten that way, really eye catching.

You can blanch & freeze yardlongs just like green beans; but because the pods are fairly dry, they are very susceptible to freezer burn, and deteriorate quickly. I've had good results, though, if I vacuum sealed the beans immediately after freezing.

I'm planning to try the red noodle this next summer, I've been planting the asparagus variety and have plenty of seed saved. I think my aphid problem stems from the desert fire ants which farm them.
The flowers do certainly attract beneficials, though. Between long beans and red ripper peas, I saw almost very beneficial I've ever read about, from a Mexican desert lady bug to tons of praying mantids to syrphid flies and wasps with all the larval stages of each. It was a pleasure to check the flowers and see what was visiting each day.

Thanks for all the great info and the pictures. I can hardly wait to grow them. I've been wanting to attract beneficials in the worst way. We don't spray chemicals, I know this helps. Zeedman, how do you get rid of your ant hills? I see ants going up and down our plants in the garden.

"Zeedman, how do you get rid of your ant hills?"

Unless they are causing problems, I leave them alone. Black ants, while annoying, seldom cause problems. The except is when they spread disease from plant to plant, by carrying aphids... then it's necessary to kill the ants so I can deal quickly with the aphids (I use insecticidal soap to kill the aphids). Destructive ants, like the carpenter ants, are another matter; I do not tolerate their presence in the garden.

Ants are the only exception I make from strictly organic practices. I use the liquid ant baits designed for household use, placing them under empty pulp plant trays to both keep them dry & prevent animals from finding them. The hills are usually just outside my garden, and I bait them there. A single bait usually kills the nest, although it may take awhile to see results. Larger nests, or complexes of several hills, may require several baits. If I can't find the nest, I place a bait or two under the plants they are infesting, and let the ants find the nest for me.

If you don't want to use poison, and are able to locate the nest, dump a big kettle of boiling water on it. Do this at night, when most of the foraging ants should be in the nest. Open the heart of the nest, then pour the boiling water in. This may need to be repeated several times.

There is another way which might work, one I use to kill wasp nests in the ground. Get a tin or can, and put some charcoal lighter in it. Find a large, sturdy metal container (such as a very large steel bowl or metal tub) that will fit over both the nest & the tin of fluid. Just before sunset, water the ground around the nest to make it soft. Working at night so as not to get stung, place the fluid next to the nest, light it, and quickly cover it with the tub, forcing the edges into the ground. The burning fluid will exhaust all of the oxygen inside, and leave poisonous fumes behind. Leave the tub in place for at least a day; any insects that were too deep to be killed by the fumes will be killed as they emerge. This has been 100% effective for me when dealing with ground-dwelling wasps; it might be worth trying for fire ants. Keep in mind, ants often form satellite nests, you'd have to get them all at close to the same time, or neighboring nests would just re-inhabit the empty ones.

My asparagus bean plants are aphid magnets. I knock them off in the morning and they're back in the afternoon. They destroy the blossoms and new beans so that few are left for harvest. Will those of you who say that you have no trouble with aphids please post which varieties you're growing? I'm hoping there's a resistant one.