Pole Bean, Blue Lake Stringless
75 in stock
Quick Overview
POLE BEAN, Blue Lake Stringless – Phaseolus vulgaris
FULL SUN Native to the Americas, beans were one of the great gifts to the Old World from the New World where they had been cultivated for 10,000 years. Snap beans are meant to be “snapped” from the plant and eaten fresh or steamed. Pole varieties can reach a height of 10-12 ft. Blue Lake Stringless Pole was introduced in 1961. It is a heavy producer of round, 6 in. very sweet, tender pods. Good for fresh eating, canning or freezing.
Plant in late spring after danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed to a depth of 6 in. Pole beans should be planted in hills, 5-6 beans per hill with the hills 3 ft. apart. Use 3 12 ft. bamboo poles, tied together at one end to form a teepee. Bury the free ends of the poles 6-8 in. deep in the hills. Train the vines to grow up the poles.
Pole beans can be easily grown in containers. Plant 6 beans in an 18 in. diameter pot. Use the bamboo pole teepee buried 6 in. in the pot to train the vines.
Beans prefer a light, loamy soil that has been lightly fertilized.
| Type | Spacing | Planting Depth | Days to Germination | Maturity |
| Pole, snap | 8-12 in. | 1 1/2 in. | 7-10 | 60 |
Pole Bean, Blue Lake Stringless
Bean cultivation can be traced to the earliest vestiges of human civilization. Beans may have been the first vegetables that mankind learned to cultivate. Fava beans have been found in Neolithic excavations in Switzerland. Chickpeas, favas and lentils have been found in Egyptian tombs, and the Chinese started growing soybeans around 1500 BC. However, many of the beans that we are familiar with today, like the common or kidney, lima and runner bean came from the Americas and were not introduced into Europe until the time of Christopher Columbus. The oldest archaeological evidence of common beans in the New World comes from Tehuacan, Mexico and has been radiocarbon dated to 7000 BC.
Lima beans, also known as butter beans, come in large seeded and small seeded varieties. They are a very old bean known to have been in coastal Peru since 6000 BC. The small seeded varieties are thought to have originated in Mexico. The large seeded varieties came from South America. The term ‘lima’ actually refers to Lima, Peru where it is rumored that an American Navy Admiral was introduced to the beans. He is said to have brought the beans back to New England where they did not produce well. Somehow the beans found their way into the Mid-Atlantic where they did much better in the warmer climate. Lima beans require a long growing season and will not tolerate frost. The beans come in a range of colors from black to purple to red to white. Bush varieties grow on compact 12-18 inch plants. Pole varieties grow on 10-12 foot vines.
