[djbnat]

Went up to the beloved lotty yesterday to find my entire french beans flat on the ground.  The winds had done their work.  I thought perhaps a lesson to be learnt,  next year push the canes deeper but on closer inspection the wind had snapped them so not entirely my failing!

Any tips on avoiding this next year?

Not wasted though, I set to and gathered a good old crop from them so nothing lost really 

[arugula]

Windbreak fabric? Bean frame of sturdier construction? 

Glad you still got your crop.

 

[JayG]

Two thoughts; bamboo canes get brittle with age - new ones have a lot more give in them and shouldn't break off except under the greatest pressure.

Also, some "designs" of support are more stable than others - wigwams are probably the most stable (but not perfect in other respects), followed by "X" frames, inverted "V" structures, with straight lines of upright canes obviously the weakest (you can "buttress" them but you might as well have used a stronger design in the first place!) 

[savbo]

I have a frame of 3x2, 8' long and set about 2' above the ground, with my 8' canes resting on either side to produce an X frame with about 2/3 of the cane above the crossing point. canes rest in 1cm notches cut into the frame and are fastened to frame with wire

Very strong

Nicked idea from Kristen IIRC 

sav

[djbnat]

Thanks very much for your ideas - may well take up the support frame idea next year as it won't detract from available space and sounds pretty sturdy.  Just used "inverted V's" this year and like most sites it is quite open to the wind.  All good learning from experience 
Regards
DJB

[Kleftiwallah]

Make sure you rig up a couple of bracing wires,  (think triangles for strength)  from top left to bottom right and top right to bottom left between the lines of canes.

Cheers,    Tony.

[shokkyy]

Every year when I build big 8ft cane wigwams or double rows for my peas and beans, I end up reinforcing them with guy ropes when the plants get big and vigorous. It's just so much weight if you sow them thickly, which I do.

[JayG]

Last time I grew runners up a wigwam it didn't blow over but I got fed up with trying to find the beans amongst the tangled jungle of foliage (especially at the top!)

Last time I used an inverted "V" I was lucky that they were near the hedge which stopped them falling over completely and being totally trashed.

(Actually that last statement isn't quite true because using guy ropes as Shokkyy has suggested subsequently worked very well, but these days I'm a Munty-orangutanman!)  

[Christine]

I'll second the old bamboo canes get brittle. Mine have given up in the winds but are not quite flat under the runners so am taking the last beans off before demolition to bonfire and compost heap.

[shokkyy]

(Actually that last statement isn't quite true because using guy ropes as Shokkyy has suggested subsequently worked very well, but these days I'm a Munty-orangutanman!)  

Yes, I keep toying with the idea of doing the Munty with my runners. This year I did a double row of 8ft canes and it did work pretty well, not too hard to pick even with the very big crop I've had. It would be cleaner and less tangled with a Munty, but what always bothers me a bit is that I'd be using essentially the same amount of space for half the amount of bean plants. The one that's really hard to pick is mangetout, because they're impossible to see amongst the plants. Wonder if they'd work with a Munty.

[crh75]

The one that's really hard to pick is mangetout, because they're impossible to see amongst the plants. Wonder if they'd work with a Munty.

Try a purple podded variety!

[shokkyy]

The one that's really hard to pick is mangetout, because they're impossible to see amongst the plants. Wonder if they'd work with a Munty.

Try a purple podded variety!

Well I did that with the French beans, this year I grew two purple varieties. But in all honesty I still struggle to find and pick them. It's partly because there's so much foliage and they can easily hide beneath the leaves, and partly because the stems are purple as well as the pods, and it can be hard to tell which is which.

[JayG]

It would be cleaner and less tangled with a Munty, but what always bothers me a bit is that I'd be using essentially the same amount of space for half the amount of bean plants.

You can plant a Munty frame pretty densely, and how much space it takes up is partly down to the design - many I've seen pics of have much longer uprights than diagonals which to me slightly defeats the purpose of having most of the beans hanging down nice and straight, so mine has long diagonals and short uprights which also means that you can grow other things underneath (especially if you have remembered to have the high end facing south!)

Pic attached of mine (taken today) - nothing growing underneath now but I did have garlic and salad leaves there earlier on. If you're wondering what the canes are for they are to help support netting on the top side of the beans to deter the pesky sparrows!
You will also see some carrots straining at their too-small enviromesh cage, but probably not be able to see that very unusually for me some of my sweetcorn have 2 or even 3 cobs on, although many of them are still not ripe.
Strange year indeed!

[hamstergbert]

Munty frame certainly doesn't have to waste any space to speak of - last year grew oodles of salad leaves under there, this year half a dozen assorted courgettes.

[Madame Cholet]

Going to try mine over a hazel arch so I walk under them.