hmm, seems you have things backward.

Find a taller variety of corn.

The best beans for growing on corn are somewhat shade tolerant and grow very vigorously. That means you need a corn variety that is adapted to your area and gets at least 8 feet tall. Most of the old varieties known as "cornfield" beans are adapted to such use.

An interesting piece of trivia is that the tallest corn I have ever grown is very poorly anchored in the ground. This is Jala Giant corn. I had stalks 15 to 20 feet tall in 2008. But the first summer storm that came through laid them down flat. It was not because they were so tall. The problem was that the anchor roots that form at the surface of the soil were very short and not set into the ground.

DarJones

As long as the corn is sturdy, and well rooted, I don't think you need to worry too much about the bean growing too tall. I've grown Cherokee Cornhill Pole bean on 8' corn. I'm positive that this bean would go up at least 15' if given the support. Yet, even on stalks which broke in half, this bean simply made a shorter cornhill, and... produced wonderfully.

Last year I did an experiment, just for kicks. I had two broken spading forks, less than 4' tall. I stuck them in the ground and planted Childers Cutshort, a pole bean, on them. Childers Cutshort will go up at least 10' if given the support. Yet it produced very well on those two forks. It simply did loop di loops.

Some of the taller beans, when grown on corn, will actually "jump" from plant to plant, growing across the top of the corn patch. I've observed this with Tarahumara Pink Green bean, among others.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Thanks guys. Does the bean growth shade out the corn? I never really understood how that works.

Not really. Now, if you grew a super vigorous pole bean with no support besides something like Country Gentleman sweet corn, I suspect there might be a serious shade issue! But with a sturdy, at least average height corn, I've never had the beans shade the corn too much. Keep in mind, that one doesn't normally plant the beans as closely together, when using corn, as a regular trellis.

George

Oh, I didn't realize that the bean spacing was different. Thank you. I obviously need to research this a bit more.