Beans are very sensitive plants, especially when they are young. Piling them up gives them support and prevents them from breaking off. You can find out below when and with which beans it makes sense to pile up.
Piling up protects bush beans from breaking off
Why is it piled up?
Piling up has one main function: to provide support. Since the sprout of beans breaks off very easily, pile up to support it. Piling up is advisable, especially in very windy areas.
Which beans are piled up?
In principle, you can pile up any bean, but this only really makes sense with bush beans. Since runner beans have support anyway thanks to the climbing aid, breaking off is less likely here and piling up is therefore rather unusual.
When and how is it piled up?
Pile up when the plant has reached a height of at least 15cm. Then proceed as follows:
- Loosen the soil a few inches from the young bean. Do not chop too close to the bean plant to avoid damaging the roots!
- Then use your hands to pile up the loosened soil around the bean plant so that the soil is a few inches higher than before.
- Press the soil well but carefully.
- Water your bean plants gently to make sure the new soil stays in place.
Alternative to piling up
Bush beans can also be supported in other ways. So it is common for home gardeners to build a kind of leaning for bush beans. This is how it works:
- Stick sticks or stakes into the soil at all four corners of your French bean bed. You should be well seated.
- Stretch several ropes along your bed from one stick to the other, creating a rough fence of sorts.
The fence should neither be too close to the beans to prevent them from growing, nor too far away, in which case it would have no effect. Therefore read on your seed pack what planting distance is recommended and halve it. This is the ideal distance for your homemade support. 10cm from the sown bean is probably a good measure in most cases.
tips
Combine your beans with other medium-tall or tall plants, such as tomatoes, to protect them from the wind. You can find out more about good and bad neighbors and growing beans here.