Sunflowers with pole beans?

dixie 4/15/2013, 1:24 pm

Has anyone used sunflowers as support for pole beans?

Gunny 4/15/2013, 2:59 pm

I am in the process of doing that in my tire gardens. Waiting for them to get a little bigger before planting the beans. Sunflowers are supposed to work just like corn does for supporting the beans. I have a bamboo patch for backup if the beans get to heavy for the sunflowers. Have fun.

southern gardener 4/15/2013, 4:13 pm

dixie wrote:Has anyone used sunflowers as support for pole beans?

We accidentally did last year and it worked GREAT! I say accidentally because a sunflower grew in our corn bed. We had planted the beans under the corn so they could climb. The beans seemed to find the tallest plant (sunflower) and climbed up!

dixie 4/15/2013, 8:38 pm

Thanks to both of you. I Googled it & some sites said never plant sunflowers with pole beans & some folks said they had done it with great success, so I'll give it a try. I planted my corn and sunflowers today, so when they grow a bit I'll plant my beans.

I just thought of something - I haven't planted my carrots for Carrot Week! Yikes. I'll do that tomorrow.

yolos 4/15/2013, 8:53 pm

I planted sunflowers last year. The ants and aphids loved them. Maybe that is why you do not plant your beans with the sunflowers.

southern gardener 4/15/2013, 9:37 pm

dixie wrote:Thanks to both of you. I Googled it & some sites said never plant sunflowers with pole beans & some folks said they had done it with great success, so I'll give it a try. I planted my corn and sunflowers today, so when they grow a bit I'll plant my beans.

I just thought of something - I haven't planted my carrots for Carrot Week! Yikes. I'll do that tomorrow.

oh shoot! i forgot too!! I even have the colored seeds....gonna go get started!! thanks for the reminder!!

jazzycat 4/24/2013, 2:32 pm

So I saw this thread and a couple of other places that suggested planting beans with sunflowers. I'm new at this, so how does this work? Do you wait until the sunflower is already going before planting the beans? How many bean plants per flower? Also, are there particular varieties of beans that work better than others? Will fava beans work?

Thanks bunches!

dixie 4/24/2013, 2:35 pm

I am unfamiliar with fava beans, but I will be planting McCaslan pole beans. Wait until the sunflowers get some size to them before planting your bean seeds. The sunflower stalks will provide the support for the pole beans to grow up.

Good luck

Lemonie 4/24/2013, 2:43 pm

I haven't done it with pole beans yet, but have w/ my snap peas and they've done fine (actually lasted a bit longer with the shade from the big plants. Those sunflowers are HEAVY feeders though and their root system can go a little crazy if you don't keep their fertilizer buffet going. This year, I've buried soda bottles next to them for slow-release fertilizer and extra watering.

jazzycat 4/24/2013, 2:45 pm

How many bean plants per flower? One? Or can you plant more? Thanks!

dixie 4/24/2013, 2:53 pm

I'm going to plant 2-3, but I don't know what is "correct". Maybe someone else will pop in with an answer.

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