Rattlesnake pole beans - EMT trellis supports with nylon trellis netting.

I use home grown bamboo poles, placed in a tripod, for my seed production and 16' cattle panels, held up by three T posts for main production. The cattle panels are very easy to set up and take down, and, they last for years.

George

That's impressive, Yolos!

George mentioned cattle panels, and here's another way to use one: bent in half to make an 8-ft. arch. The 5-ft. edges on the ground provide 20 feet of row for seed planting.

I found the idea here on GardenWeb. Here's a pic of my first one, taken 5 years ago. I now have two of them, and the first one is in perfect condition. Beans are Kentucky Wonders.

{{gwi:48166}}

I don't grow pole because of high wind issues in my location, but do grow the bush (Blue Lake Bush I think).

Over the years I've picked up those metal fencing pieces that can be poked into the ground and moved around, I must have about 40 pieces (about 1 foot high and 14-18 inches in length). Dollar store and garage sales have the best prices for me.

I place them a distance of 6-8 inches from the young bean plants, and they are there just to give a bit of support from the wind. Both sides of the rows, with a few perpendicular within the row, Helps to keep the plants in check.

Before I did this the wind would come ripping through (usually just as the beans were nearing harvest time!) and whip the plants around, snapping off good branches with developing baby beans, and twisting the plants so terribly that production dropped afterwards (when the weather would turn lovely again).

Good topic. Interesting posts.

See also the link below.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Show Me Your Trellis