I quit growing pole beans here. Using bush beans exclusively now.

Dan

Sounds like you received seed to a type of scarlet runner bean. The runner beans are not a good choice for hot climates. They do best in a very mild climate. I've grown Insuk's Wang Kong, which is a fairly heat tolerant runner bean. But here in hot Oklahoma, it hasn't produced well.

I'd try something like Rattlesnake, which is a very heat tolerant pole bean from the phaseolus vulgaris family. This is the family from which most of the common beans come. Rattlesnake is known for heat tolerance. Almost any phaseolus vulgaris bean will do better in heat than any runner bean. But it's even better if the variety is known for heat tolerance.

Below is a link to Sandhill Preservation Center's list of pole beans. There are some good ones in the list. I have heard great things about Blue Marbut and Fortex. I grow Tennessee Cutshort, which is our family's favorite all purpose bean (it has strings and when strung the pods remain tender for a LONG time). They also have Rattlesnake.

For snaps I prefer pole beans because of their prolonged harvest and the fact that I don't have to bend over so much for harvesting.

Last summer we had so much heat that some of our beans never did set pods. During that time Georgia Long, a type of yard long bean, which is actually an edible podded cowpea, did extremely well. So, you might also consider a kind of yard long bean. They taste just a little different from most regular snap beans. But they produce extremely well when nothing else can take the heat. I have given seed to more than one person, who then stopped growing any other kind of bean; they're just that dependable in the heat.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Here is a link that might be useful: Sandhill Preservation Pole Beans

Macmex thank you so much. I couldn't have hopped for a more helpful answer, and thanks, too, for the link to Sand Hill. I just read the "about us" section of their site and it looks like the kind of outfit that I like to support. I've bookmarked their link and printed out your suggestions. Thanks again and have a great holiday. Steve,

Macmex thank you so much. I couldn't have hopped for a more helpful answer, and thanks, too, for the link to Sand Hill. I just read the "about us" section of their site and it looks like the kind of outfit that I like to support. I've bookmarked their link and printed out your suggestions. Thanks again and have a great holiday. Steve,

I grow the red, and the green yard long beans(Vigna unguiculata)here in Florida.
Vigorous vines that climb like pole beans and produce extra long pods.
In warm, humid areas the tender pods can grow up to 36"!
In other shorter season areas they commonly grow over a foot long.
Cook like green beans or stir-fry
Sprouts in 7 to 10 days and matures in about 73 days.
very easy to grow.

Lou

Thanks Lou, although humid doesn't really describe my area. Summer RH tends to stay in the single digits here. I think I will try one of the Yard Long beans this season though as both you and Macmex have suggested it.

How would we describe the taste of the yard-long pods?

I grew KY Wonder last year and the heat did not bother them, though the lack of rainfall didn't help!

Mike

Pnbrown, some of the yardlongs have a bean & asparagus-like flavor when lightly cooked. Others have a very mild flavor which to me is more reminiscent of artichokes, and some just defy my efforts at describing them. They are generally sweet with an unusual flavor, which most tend to either like or hate. Really great in Asian cuisine, and I like them as a side dish with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic powder.

As already mentioned, SA, yardlongs prefer both heat & humidity; but if you use a thick layer of mulch around the roots & keep them moist, they might make it. Probably no bean will set pods during triple-digit heat, though.

For "green bean" taste in a hot climate, I would recommend Hyacinth beans (Dolichos lablab. They require a long season, but that shouldn't be a problem in SoCal. There are several named varieties, I prefer the purple podded for flavor & the juiciest pods. Some of the green podded varieties have thin pods that look like snow peas. The vines are tall & rampant, but have the added advantage of beautiful flowers with a perfume-like scent.

Other heat-tolerant bean substitutes you might like to try are Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajun), Sword Bean (Canavalia gladiata), and Jack Bean (Canavalia ensiformis). The immature pods of all of these are edible.

Most of the legumes above are carried by Kitazawa Seed in California.

The last bean I would recommend is Tepary Bean (Phaseolus acutifolius), which is native to the desert Southwest... hence, proven to be heat & drought tolerant. There are many varieties offered by Native Seeds/SEARCH

Hopefully at least one of these will prove to be successful in your climate, Shadyapex. Experiment, and have fun!

Hey Dan, wow, someone that knows where the Owens Valley is! I've been growing bush beans, too but have had trouble with earwigs and other pests munching down before I got a chance. What did survive the early onslaught did pretty well, though. I think I'm going to try both this season and see what does well. Busy making compost and planning right now. Cheers,,,,,,,

I live in eastern Washington...so HOT, dry summers...and I've had great luck with Emerite and purple pole beans. Both seeds can be found at Scheeper's (link below).

The Emerite have lavender flowers, and are a french pole bean, which stays thin, even as it grows longer. Very tender and great taste.

The purple pole bean has dark purple flowers (you can see they'd be pretty grown together) and purple beans. The beans turn very dark green, when you cook them and have a wonderful flavor! Plus, the kids love them :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Scheeper's pole bean seeds

Apex, I used to do the September High Sierra Century ride to Mono Lake every year. Hot Creek was the preferred destination thereabouts and maybe a trip to Lone Pine before returning north via June Lakes and maybe Markleeville, or maybe the bristlecones in the Whites too.

Anyway, last year I had quite a problem with critters crunching young seedlings including beans, so I've started saving clear containers to surround the seeds at planting, then I remove them when the plants are big enough. Our humidity here is just too low to support pole beans, sadly so the bush has to do.

Dan

Wow, more great suggestions. I know the eastern WA climate a bit so I'm going to take Lavender's suggestion as its hot and dry here, too. Sorry to hear that many don't do well in dry climates as it is very dry here. Single digits relative humidity much of the time.

Sunset 14 climate. Far north San Joaquin county. So dang hot most summers!! Great help here for the late planting of green beans I want to do. Emerite, Violetto Purple Pod and some kind of Bush Bean (maybe Masai) are going to do it. Might try yard long but not sure after reading this that we have enough humidity to make it all work. Will plant Fortex in the fall.

Linda Ray, you should be fine with the yard longs - I grow them here in dry southern California. The only problem I have with them is that ants love to farm aphids on them more than anything other than my artichokes. Keep on top of that and you should be golden.