Pole v. Bush GO!

Hello! After the last post about bush beans, I figured that we might as well do a post about pole beans. However, while there are a few extremely significant differences between the two types of beans, the majority of the information for bush beans holds for pole beans. Thus, I decided to have a post that simply focuses on those differences along with some bonus information about winter and summer squash.

Beans

A simple difference is that pole beans will take longer to grow than bush beans. While bush beans can be harvested after about 50-55 days, pole beans can not be harvested until after about 65-75 days. The trade off for this is that pole beans have a longer period of time during which they can be harvested compared to bush beans. Additionally, bush beans grow in a more compact shape while pole beans do not. These differences are important for the planning process when trying to decide where each plant should be placed and scheduling when to sow.

Another difference is related to the second difference mentioned above—to trellis or to not trellis. Pole beans need to have a trellis while bush beans do not. Although, bush beans can be planted with two close together so that they can support each other. Pole beans must have a trellis as they grow to be very long. There are different approaches as to how to trellis them as they can outright have a trellis and grow along it or be planted among other vegetables that the pole bean can use as a trellis or any other creative method that exists. Most likely for us, we’ll end up using the bamboo poles to help support these beans if we plant them.

Squash

We have grown both types of squash before in our garden like zucchini or cucumber or pink jumbo banana squash. Squash can be categorized as winter or summer and this refers to about how long the fruit can last once harvested. This is sort of a general explanation and applies more to winter squash than summer squash. Winter squash can be stored for months in a cool location while summer squash can only last for a couple of weeks. Furthermore, winter squash takes longer to develop and tend to be harvested in the fall. On the other hand, summer squash, while still not the quickest vegetable to grow, takes a shorter amount of time to develop and can be harvested in the summer (towards the later end). Winter squash are more vining types of plants and summer squash are more bush types of plants. Winter squash have a hard rind and summer squash have a soft skin and so on. There exists a HUGE variety of squash with different shapes, sizes, and most importantly of all—taste.

Sources

https://www.burpee.com/gardenadvicecenter/vegetables/beans/growing-beans---pole-or-bush/article10325.html

https://thegardeningcook.com/green-beans/

https://harvesttotable.com/squash_or_zucchini_whats_in_a/

https://medium.com/avalow/winter-squash-vs-summer-squash-what-is-the-difference-9c84a674f65d

Honestly a lot of the bean information was gathered while researching for the bush bean post so not all of the sources are cited because they already were.

Make sure to stay safe and healthy and until next time!