Yes, I still grow the Purple Podded pole beans in containers since they are prolific and seem to handle my heat/humidity well certain times of the year, BUT they do take a lot of water during the dry season. I can't grow them now as the rust and bugs in my summer Zone 10 humidity are too much for them here. Not sure where you are that you can grow them now but I grow them from September until December when I then switch to Super Sugar Snap peas because we like them so much and they are a cold season crop. I could grow beans winter into spring but we like the variety in what we are growing in a limited number of containers/space. This is simple crop rotation on a small scale since we've cut back to basically ornamental veggies, for one year the same soil is used for three crops, beans in the fall, peas in the winter and okra in the summer.

Tom

This post was edited by tomncath on Tue, Jul 22, 14 at 20:06

Can I ask you if you fertilized them? And if so, what and how often?

The reason I ask, is I read beans dont need fertilizer because they make their own Nitrogen. However in containers, I'm sure nutrients get flushed out. Especially with all the water I give them. I wonder if I need to feed.

Can I ask you if you fertilized them? And if so, what and how often?

The reason I ask, is I read beans dont need fertilizer because they make their own Nitrogen....

I don't vary my initial mixes much, 2CF bag of pine fines, 4 heaping shovels of peat, one 2.5 gallon bucket of perlite, one cup CRF/minors, one cup dolomite pellets and one quart of chicken manure. After that if necessary the mix gets either 1/2 strength Miracle Grow or if I think additional minors are needed 1/2 strength Foliage Pro, every 1-2 weeks. You already know beans don't need extra nitrogen, in my experience peas don't either so I don't start supplemental feeding until the okra season. So, basically the soil I use for these three doesn't get supplemented much until it is about done.

Tom

I am a new gardener, but I had success in growing pole beans in containers in Zone 10. The ones I had were from Burpee. I used Miracle Gro potting soil with a little bit of Vigoro 12-10-5 fertilizer (pellets) mixed in the soil. I watered almost daily and a month or so in, I added some more Vigoro, but I doubt it was needed. The things took off and I quickly discovered that my little "teepee" stick trellis was much too short to control them. I had to cut the plants down because of this trellis problem and because I had to moved my garden. I would suggest a sturdy, tall trellis. I have seen online where people use 6-foot wire rack shelves such as you see in closets across America. Kinda ugly but it would work well, as would wooden lattice.

I am in Zone 10. The biggest issue I had was some rust and white flies, but the flies didn't do any damage to the bean plants, they just kind of lived there until I treated them with a dish soap/water mixture. I sprayed the rust (or whatever fungus it was) with a baking soda/water mixture that seemed to work. Overall, the plants were pretty strong.

I'm about a month into Black eyed peas in containers and they're also sky rocketing (I added some inoculant to the seeds). It seems like beans and peas are good for new gardeners -- just make sure you trellis well (for non-bush varieties) and also be careful with the tendrils of the black eyes when you train them to the trellis -- they break easily.