I’m giving it one more week before I plant out… I’m not going to be tempted to plant earlier, I still think it’s a bit too chilly for beans and squashes, so all my plants are huddling in the greenhouse for now.
In the meantime, I am building my bean supports. I’ve had a lot of problems in the past, with beans toppling over in the strong winds come mid/late August. It’s annoying when that happens as they are heavy and awkward to put upright again – I’ve used guy ropes and pegs all to no avail! But last year I built a pretty sturdy frame that worked so well. I’m going to do the same again this weekend, but thought I’d share with you all in case you have problems too!
The photo above is from last year – if you look closely, you should be able to see that it’s kind of a blend between a bamboo wigwam and a standard A-frame bamboo support.
At each end and in the centre, I have put up a wigwam structure. The bamboo canes are really well pushed into the ground to make sure they are sturdy, and then tied together at the top as firmly as possible. Then the horizontals sit from wigwam to wigwam, again tied together really well. Finally, in between each wigwam I’ve pushed in the a-frame style bamboo canes, leaving approx 30cm between each. I’ve taken no chances with these either – they are pushed as deep into the ground as I could manage, and tied on super-tight.
On trying to then wobble the entire frame, there was barely any give, and the whole structure lasted the summer and into autumn so my Borlotti Beans were able to mature on the plant without coming crashing to the ground. It worked really well, so if you’ve had your beans collapse in the past, I’d definitely recommend giving it a go!