Bean Vines Too Thick

I have a problem that I haven't ever had before. I planted Blue Lake for the first time this year and I think they taste great.

My vines are growing up over my cattle panels and are folding over while twisting into knots. When I pick I have to raise the thick folded over part up and look underneath. It's so thick that it's hard to find the beans. I have plenty of blossoms but my bean productivity hasn't been that good. I have read that over-fertilizing can lead to thick vines and not many beans but I put very little fertilizer on the ground. Hopefully they'll pick up soon because I want to can a lot of them.

I've started trimming some of the thickest places and started snipping the runners when they get above the vines. Am I doing the right thing and if you have any advice on what I need to do that is different it would very much be appreciated.

Thanks, Danny

Well, if your cattle panels are turned on their sides, that's too short for pole beans so yes, the vines should be thick at four feet.

These are not just thick. They're very, very thick and doubling over a couple feet.

Can you post a photo? Are the panels turned sideways? I have cattle panels turned sideways but added vertical poles that go to seven feet and then horizontal poles up top. I lace polyester knitting yarn from the panels to the horizontal poles so beans start running on the panels and then up the poles. I'll look for a picture.

I was wondering how thick your vines were at what height. Mine can sometimes get pencil thickness. Never pruned.. I've grown Blue Lake and don't find them different in growth habit from other pole beans. Limas are grown the same way on the panels and then yarn.

My cattle panels are raised off of the ground some, attached to some fence posts. I guess maybe I'll have to get some taller fence posts if I want them to be not so thick. The vine itself isn't that thick but it's the amount of leaves attached to them.

If I don't forget I'll take a picture and post it tomorrow. My memory isn't what it once was.

This message was edited Aug 10, 2022 7:30 PM

The tops of my vines are probably around six feet high. I'm going to try something different next year to be able to let them grow a little bit higher.

The pictures don't really show how much of a hangover there is but anyway here they are.

Where I am having a problem is with the cattle panel size. Cattle panels are only fifty inches wide but are eight to sixteen feet long. On the other hand, hog panels are three feet wide and six or more feet in length. My panels are turned sideways so are fifty inches high by eight feet long. I use either wood poles or galvanized pipe every four feet and attach horizontal to those at about seven to eight feet. At that height they are not as dense. However, limas will run much longer than pole beans so I have a couple of eight foot long arbors so they can scramble across the top and down the other side. Seed is planted on the north side as they go up and toward the south. I can pick through the top and be in a shady spot. Photos of early on arbor with me plotting and planning bumper crops and later.

I have 16 foot cattle panels but haven't measured the height. I'm sure they're in the 50" range. I attached them to fence posts and raised them up off of the ground in a north to south direction. The cattle panels are probably about 5 feet (after being raised) and the vines have grown up above the top of them. I may put some posts in the ground next year and do them like Bill Best does some of his. I can reach a little higher than 7 feet so that's about how tall I'll let the posts stick out of the ground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCr8PQgnOng

I got very lucky today. I looked at Craigslist this morning and saw a free listing for six fence panels. He said that they were six foot tall and ten foot long. When I got there it was actually seven of them. I measured them and they were 10' long and 6' 6" tall. The end posts have an additional 6" sticking up so if I stick some emt or something else and run it from end to end it will be 7' tall. I got some concrete blocks with them that are solid with the exception of two holes in each to stick the fencing into. These will be so easy to put up and take down compared to the cattle panels.

I'm just hoping that the beans will grow straight up the chain link but if not I'll take it off and run some heavy vertical wires on it.

What a terrific find! I'm a great fan of repurposing materials in the garden. My arbors, entry fence and three gates were reclaimed cedar decking that was replaced. Meanwhile, they've had years more of useful life.

Will you be able to get your hands through to pick? Guess you can access both sides. I once made the mistake of growing beans on an arbor with a 2"x4" gauge roof. I could get my hands through to pick but boy were my knuckles sore from scraping afterwards.