Personally, I never plant pole beans closer that 6" apart (or 2 @ 12" for transplants). I give yardlong beans more space, 8" or 2 @ 15". That is in full sun though; the vines will be taller, but less filled out, in shade.

If there are temperature differences along your trellis, plant the winged beans in the warmest location, Chinese Red Noodle in the next warmest, then the other beans. The common beans (Marvel of Venice and Trionfo Violetto) would be the best choice for the shady areas... they won't do great, but better than the others, which are sun lovers.

I haven't grown Marvel of Venice, but Trionfo Violetto was a shy yielder for me. Will both of those be eaten together? 6-10 plants of each would ordinarily be plenty; but in shade, you may need more. Keeping the beans picked will increase the yield, and mulching dry areas will be helpful.

Assuming that all of the yardlongs will be used together, maybe 5 plants of each.

When I grew winged beans, the yield was rather low. If possible, try to purchase & try some winged beans before deciding how much space to dedicate to them. Being able to eat the leaves partially compensates for the low bean yield.

Super, super helpful. Thank you so much zeedman!!!!

Zeedman is the expert on beans!

Does anyone have any remedies for cutworms on beans? Mine came up, but were cut as soon as their stems were visible. I didn't save any toilet rolls, as I use sticks against the stems of my tomatoes and peppers. Cutworms don't usually get my pole beans!

I really love fortex pole bean. No string AND the best tasting IMO

@Labradors would bt or pyrethrin work?

@robert567 and I thought growing pole beans is easy peasy. Lets see how mine do, I will be planting them now, first week of June. I have the white seed variety of Marvel of Venice which I hear is much earlier and quicker to fruit than the black seeded variety.

"Does anyone have any remedies for cutworms on beans? Mine came up, but were cut as soon as their stems were visible. I didn't save any toilet rolls, as I use sticks against the stems of my tomatoes and peppers. Cutworms don't usually get my pole beans!"

Try buying (or borrowing, if you know anyone with a pool) some DE powder. Sprinkle it closely around the beans, it should discourage the cutworms. BT would work too, but the caterpillars would have to eat a bit to get infected. Either treatment would need to be reapplied after rain or overhead watering.

Thanks zeedman. I have some DE. It might just protect them today, before it rains for a week!

Katyajini. There's nothing to spray with pyrethrin until the bean shoots emerge from the soil, then the cutworms get them!

IMO, Rattlesnake pole beans are the best tasting. I've had Fortex and they are really nice too, but didn't grow well for me.

I plant my beans pretty close together - and direct sow, not transplant. I use the granular inoculant for beans that's supposed to help them fix nitrogen. I plant the seeds about 3 inches apart and on both sides of the trellis - with about 12 inches between the 2 sides.

I also mulch thickly with hay.

I started another thread about this concern of mine but I did not get any response. This issue is really bothering me so I am posting the question here. Hoping someone will guide me.

I planted the Marvel seedlings on June 11th. They looked very healthy then. They have barely grown and look hurt now.

What can have caused this? I am thinking, is it from the compost? I spread a thick layer (3 inches) of purchased compost and inserted the root balls into that. And sprinkled some plantone and covered with mulch. The Trionfo pole beans next down the row dont look like they are hurting like this. There were multiple bags of compost and some bags definitely could have been far worse than others. I cant be sure that the Trionfo root balls are in the exact same compost composition.

Trionfo now:

Furthermore there was left one Marvel seedling that I forgot to plant and it has some funkiness in its leaves as well. Maybe not the same thing? This last seedling has not seen any purchased compost.

Marvel seedling still in pot (lower left quadrant):

So what do I do now? Just water and wait to see if they recover? Could this be from excessive salts in the compost? The seeds carried an illness? I am inclined to think it is environmental not genetic.

Today I noticed my yard long beans and winged bean seedlings are distinctly more yellow.

I hope this is just a nutritional deficiency. I am giving them a good feed with fish emulsion and see what happens.

I would greatly appreciate your input.

Thanks!

Really can't help, but they seem unhappy with the soil. Either the potting soil they were started in, or the compost which seems very woody. Small beans plants do not like to have soggy roots, if you think that might be a problem. Disease wise, there isn't anything you can do except hope they grow stronger.

Robert: That is wood chip mulch over the compost they are planted in. The compost maybe too moisture retentive? I will pull back the mulch and that should help the soil dry out quicker and maybe that will move the plants towards better health. I did not intend for the soil to be soggy. I have used this compost everywhere and things are ok. Clearly something is wrong. Dont beans like a lot of moisture?