Green beans in grow bags vs in ground

[TacticalSpeed]

Started my green beans in the usual spot again this year (In ground) and nothing was unusual. Got the normal harvest.

This year, I decided to start some more later for fall in the season after some other spots opened up from pulling spring/summer crops. These spots happened to be some grow bags. The green bean plants in these bags are so much larger (Too early for bean production so jury is out there), but I did find it interesting and now it has me thinking making start them in bags next year & just use the in ground spot I normally put them in for something else.

Aside from the ground soil there is no difference as the grow bags get the same compost and fertilizers all season.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Meadowlark]

Just from your description, it sounds like you are growing the green beans in the soil in the same location. They benefit significantly from crop rotation. Beans are nitrogen-fixing legumes, and rotating them with other crops prevents nutrient imbalance and keeps soil structure healthy.

As relates to in ground vs container, all things being equal the container green beans in my experience will normally produce as much or sometimes more than the in ground with the caveat that the container is sufficiently large and deep to accommodate the number of bean plants.

They need minimum 4-inch spacing and minimum of 12 inches of soil in my experience in a container.

I only occasionally use containers for green beans mainly because I go for large volume crops that produce canning amounts. However, for just a few fresh green bean meals, the containers are great and easy to harvest. They are also handy for stagger planting the beans to mature at various times so you can have fresh supply continuously.

 

[Chuck]

Last year in LaPorte Texas I grew green beans in sixty 5 gallon fabric containers. I grew 3 plants in each container. The soil mix was 70% native black clay soil and 30% horse/chicken manure compost with a lot of hay in it. I used zero fertilizer. I had 3 harvests and more beans than I knew what to do with. But the main thing was the ease of picking the beans. At my age the bending and stooping really bothers me and the height of the beans from the ground when planted in containers alleviated all the bending and stooping. I could not see any difference in production. I have completely stopped growing anything in the ground. I am experimenting with Hugelculture methods in many of my containers. I grew everything I did before: corn, melons, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, squash etc and everything produced as well or better than it did with in ground planting.