loosecanon wrote:
Best time to plant beans in Perth is after the last frost. Usually this is
in August-September. I have always found that subsequent crops planted after
this date don't do as well. I guess because this is the hottest 3 months.
Although I have planted bean seeds on the 11 February 2006, 2 days before
the full moon. They are healthy and growing well. Hopefully I will enjoy a
good crop.

For the last two years I've planted a second round of Pioneer dwarfs
in January in Adelaide, and this year's been hot and mostly dry.
I've had a good crop each time (picked the first today), although it
didn't last long. Planted them on 13/1 - never seen dwarf beans grow
so fast or so high.

BTW, here's a trick I accidentally found for myself. I got sick of
staking the beans, which is a bit messy when they're 10cm apart. So
I now fix a length of what's called 'traintrack' (5cm) from 3 stakes
about 25-30 cm off the ground, and train the growing beans through
the gap - no tying. Works a charm!

I think 'traintrack' is normally used for reinforcing brickwork, and
you get it from building suppliers (that's what they call it, too).
It consists of light galv struts, with connecting struts every so
often. The ones I get are about 3m long and come in various widths.
I've used wider sections as temporary trellising (for eg peas) for
years.

Andrew
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Andrew Gabb
email: Adelaide, South Australia
phone: +61 8 8342-1021, fax: +61 8 8269-3280
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