Added Ropes to Bean Trellis and Placed Mulch Around Corn

This week I decided to add the ropes for my bean trellis and to finish them as quickly as possible.  Many of my bean plants had started grabbing on to each other and it became a pain to break them apart without damaging the vine.  They are very fragile and can easily break if handled incorrectly.

Having them climb up ropes has proved to be successful in the past years and is a great way to separate the plants and vines.  The ropes are also strong enough to support the amount of beans that could appear especially if you have a good harvest like I did last year.

Before my beans got too much tangled I decided on placing the ropes on the trellis and force them to start climbing the ropes.  Taking them apart is what took the longest, but once I got that done it was incredibly easier.  In total it didn’t take that long and in two days I completed the final stage of the bean trellis.  You can see below that I made sure the bean vines use the rope to climb.

Now that beans are just about finished I wanted to work on the corn.  My corn plants are doing quite well and placing mulch around them can help eliminate weeds and retain water which corn desperately requires.

It is not necessary to place mulch, but I find it easier to deal with that way I don’t have to weed around them and could possibly harm the roots of corn.  Their roots are sensitive and are close to the surface which can easily be harmed by weeding around them.  Since they require much water this will help when they start producing silks and tassels.

I have only placed mulch around the first section of corn that has been planted.  I will add mulch to the others within the next couple of weeks or when I place blood meal around them.  This is usually when they are knee high that I place fertilizer around them.

On another note my fall crop seeds have finally sprouted which did not take that long to grow.  With the sunny days and late rain showers this had something to do with their quick germination.  I will definitely have to thin them out very soon in order to get the best plants for the garden.