Pole bean (Fortex)
legume
- 2026 · Bed D
- Spacing
- 3 in(8 / sqft)
- Trellis
- yes
- Direct seed
- Apr 15(at frost)
- Harvest
- ~8–12 weeks from sowing
- Last fall harvest
- Oct 1(-2 w)
- Water
- 1-2 per week
- Seed shelf life
- 3–4 y
- Lifecycle
- annual
- Seed source
- Johnny's Selected Seeds
Direct seed only when soil hits 60°F — seeds rot in cool wet soil. Bear continuously through summer once started; pick pods often to keep production going. Beans fix nitrogen, so go easy on fertilizer.
First year on a real cattle-panel trellis. Fortex is the long thin green bean — paired in Bed D with Carminat (purple) and Helda (flat romano).
Direct-seeded along the north side of Bed D in early May with twine running up to the cattle-panel trellis. The vines are still finding the strings; once they grab, growth gets vertical fast.
- May 23, 2026
Climbing the strings (May 24) Seedlings have hit the bottom of the cattle panel and are starting to wrap the twine. A few stragglers behind from a second direct-seed pass.