Do French beans need support?
Question:
Answers:
Yes- they are climbers and without support they will trail all over the ground, get entangled with each other and be eaten by ground dwelling insects.
Best thing to use is bamboo canes which are available at every garden centre and nursery on the planet. Plant out your seedlings when they're about 3-4 inches tall, pinch out the tips (makes them bushy) and then insert a cane right next to each seedling. With a little encouragement the shoots will cling to the cane and you'll have nice tall bean plants. Even better than canes is to use a trellis or failing that, arrange the canes in a kind of teepee fashion so that the tops all meet- this looks better and is more stable in windy weather.
Some of the dwarf varieties claim to be wiry and self supporting when correctly spaced. All pole or taller beans will need support.
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