A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Pole Beans in a hanging basket??????

Hey all,

I guess you are all going to think that I'm crazy (and pretty much am) but, I've got a question. My wife wants a hanging plant in front of a window in our living room. As I was talking about how I wished I could start a few pole beans, whe asked me what I thought about starting a couple in a hanging basket. The basket that we have in mind is about 1 gallon or so. So, I believe that it would be big enough. I'm new to the container gardening with veggies idea though so, I don't know if the beans would do okay trailing down rather than running up!

Any input would be appreciated.

Robert

they will naturaly try to go up (towards the light) but i dont see any reason you couldnt make them go down. i think it sounds like a great idea. if you decide to try it, let us all know how it goes.
and good luck

Hey Wizzard,

What you said was pretty much what I was thinking. I just thought it might cause the blood to rush to their heads and damage their brains!! Just kidding. When my wife first mentioned it, I said, "you don't want BEANS growing in a hanging flower basket, do you?!?!" :rolleyes: But, the more I thought about it, the more I thought they would probably look kind of neat!

I'm sure I'm gonna give it a try. I'll let you guys know how it turns out!

Hi there..

yes please, let me know how it turns out
i think it sounds very original indeed

Penny

great, im glad your gonna try it do you have a camera? it would be great to see pics in about a month or 2 to see how they take to it. something ive been wondering about is how well the initial growth up will turn/angle/bend downward to get it hanging...

Hey Wizzard,

I do have a camera and intend to take "progression" pics to share. Unbeknownst to me, before I agreed to this project my wife had already commandeered the last hanging basket that I had for another plant. So, I had to come up with something else. I have an old tea kettle that is no longer good for anything, but had never been able to bring myself to throw it out. I decided to plant the beans in it and make a hanging planter out of it. It's not very pretty right now, but I think it will be cute once the beans are growing in it. Then, I will truly have a "bean pot"!!!! Sorry, I just couldn't resist that!

I don't know how the growth will take to the hanging downward as opposed to running up. I too have wondered about that. Based on my experience with pole beans in the garden, I really don't see it as a major problem. I figure that the main part of the plant will bush somewhat like the ones in the garden. And when it sends out runners that are tall enough, their own weight should gently pull them over and make them "hang."

My biggest concern is whether or not the runners will be strong enough to support the growing bean pods. I will be keeping a close eye on that and if I begin to see that it might be a problem, I intend to support them by dropping strings from the pot and winding the runners around the string. The more I sit here and think about it, the more I lean toward the idea of doing that anyway. I might use string to support all but a few and just see which way works best. I'm always open to 'speriments!!

Thanks for the input. Like my grandmother used to say... "Two heads are better than one...... even if mine IS a gourd head!!!"

Robert

great, im glad to hear you have a camera. cant wait to see pics. im not so sure my pole beans are going to make it. i originaly thought there was a mineral deficiency, but i have had some gardening family members come ofer and say it looks like a fungus. so my pole beans may have to wait till spring when i can do them outside... not sure yet. good luck, hope it works out great for you.

I sure hate to hear that Wizzard! I hope you have better luck with them outside.

Oh..... and, thanks for keeping your fingers crossed for me!!

Robert

Hi, just wondering how your beans are going? Sowed some seeds in a pot 6 days ago, and they're now about 4 inches high. Am panicking 'cause I don't have a trellis as yet, then I saw your post and it sounds like an interesting thing to try

Cheers,
Sandy

Hey Sandy,

I made a post about the early demise that my pole beans met. But, I goofed and made that post under "Pole Beans in a pot" in the "Fruits and Vegetables Gardening" section. Sorry about that, the post should have gone here.

Since I posted it in the wrong place, I decided to do a copy and past of it here:

On Feb. 28, 2006 beebiz said: As I said, I'll try the experiment again in the Fall or Winter. Good luck with yours though!!

By the way, you say that you don't have a trelis for your beans yet. Do you have any wild cane growing near you? You know, the kind that they make fishing poles from? If you do, you can cut a cane pole for each of your plants, stick them in the pot, lean the tops into each other, and tie them together kind of like a tee-pee. That way each plant has it's own pole to run up.

Again, good luck with your beans!!

Robert

beebiz, I'm going to try some hanging baskets outside and see what happens. Why do you think yours gave up the ghost?

Beebiz, I enjoyed your website. I couldn't sign your guestbook. I clicked on the link but couldn't find where to sign.

Bestofour said: Like I said, I got sick and was not able to take care of them. I have a very strong feeling that they were a little on the dry side when I got sick and by the time I got well enough to fool with them (a little over a week later) they had just gone too long without watering them. Even though we heat with an electric central unit, the air in our house stays soooooo dry in the winter time. By the time I felt like checking on the beans, the dirt was as dry as the Mojave Desert and the beans were severely wilted!! I tried reviving them with some water, but it was just too late.

Bestofour said: Just out of curiosity, are you using a connection accelerator program such as Bell South Accelerator? If you are, you might try disabling it and try to sign the guestbook again. I have BSA and when I go to the site some of the graphics don't download properly unless I disable the accelerator first. Other than that, I don't know what would be happening. I just went there and everything seemed to be working properly. Let me know if you have any further problems.

By the way, if you have an accelerator program and you try disabling it, you may have to click on your 'refresh' button so that the page will be reloaded from the web. Otherwise, it might load from your HD and still not show the place to sign.

Good luck!! And, I'm glad you enjoyed my site!!

Robert