Grow Your Purple Podded Pole Beans (Beginner Friendly)
A simple, step‑by‑step guide for planting, growing, harvesting, and enjoying your own beans — even if it’s your first garden.
Why Plant Pole Beans:
- Vigorous vines give abundant harvest
- Great for vertical gardening (uses small space)
- Easy to harvest — pods show up clearly
- Fix nitrogen and improve soil naturally
- Tasty fresh or preserved
How to Plant and Train Vining Plants on a Vertical Trellis
- 1. Set Up Your Trellis Install your vertical trellis securely before planting to avoid disturbing the plants later.
- 2. Sow Seeds When the Soil Warms Direct sow seeds into the ground once the soil has warmed—typically by late May to early June in Michigan.
- 3. Planting Depth and Spacing Plant seeds 1 inch deep. Space them 1 to 2 inches apart in the row.
- 4.Watering for Germination Keep the soil consistently moist until seeds sprout. Avoid letting the soil dry out during this critical stage.
- 5. Weekly Watering After Sprouting Once seedlings have emerged, water them once a week, adjusting based on rainfall and temperature.
6. Training the Vines When plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, begin gently training them to climb: Find a tendril and wrap it lightly around a pole or part of the trellis. Tendrils are naturally sticky and will begin to climb upward on their own from there. - 7.When to Harvest Pick the beans when they are about 8 inches long. At this stage, they are tender and flavorful.
- 8. How to Harvest: Simply snap or gently pull the bean off the vine. These beans are stringless, so there’s no need to remove any tough fibers—just harvest and enjoy!
- Check your plants every couple of days once they start producing. Regular harvesting encourages more growth and keeps the plant productive.
Seed Saving – leave the pods on the trellis to grow large and dry out, once brittle pick the pods and remove the beans and save for next year’s garden.
Grow with help:
Get step‑by‑step lessons in my online membership
Let’s list some of the amazing things about beans
- Fix the soil
- Replaces nitrogen in the soil
- Helps break up hard soil
- Feeds the soil
- Provide food for you
- Provide food for your animals
MY Favorite All American Canner- I can “can” 14 quarts at a time! Get ‘er Done!
Random Notes:
- My favorite’s are Purple Podded Pole Beans & Dragon Tongue Beans (from rareseeds.com)
- Planting pole beans on a trellis system such as hog or cattle panel helps when picking – no bending over!
- Seed saving beans is super easy!
Unlock the Secrets of Seed Saving: Master the Art with Our Online Course!
Are you ready to take your gardening skills to the next level and ensure a thriving garden year after year? Our Seed Saving Online Course will teach you everything you need to know to save, store, and grow your own seeds with confidence!
🌱 What You’ll Learn:
The fundamentals of seed saving: What to save, how to save it, and why it matters.
How to properly store seeds for maximum viability and longevity.
Techniques for saving seeds from vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
How to avoid common mistakes and ensure a successful harvest with your saved seeds.
The benefits of seed saving for your garden, the environment, and your wallet!
Learn how to GROW – HARVEST – PRESERVE DRY Beans (click the image)
The more space you give a pole bean the more it will give back to you
One bean seed can grow 8-12 feet and provide an abundance of delicious beans
You can use this technique with any pole bean
Using hog panels & rebar you can set up this beautiful trellis to use for beans, cucumbers and peas.
If you would like to Order MY “famous” Purple Podded Pole Beans send me an email with your address and I’ll calculate the shipping cost which you can then paypal me the amount and I”ll ship them right out to you.
Email me at: Laura@foodprood.com
