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  • #1

    Three Sisters method

    I've been researching this method thanks to this months free seeds - and I like the idea of it as I have limited space.

    BUT for this year I am only planning on growing baby corn (minipop) - can I grow runner beans up the baby corn, as per the three sisters method, or will the beans drown them?

    I've not grown runner beans before so not sure how big they get

    Thanks
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  • #2
    Runner Beans can grow around 10 ft tall so you would be best putting stakes alongside your corn.
    sigpic“Gorillas are very intelligent, but they don't have to be as delicate as chimps -- they can just smash open the termite nest,”
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    • #3
      I tried this last year and failed miserably it was a mess!!
      I grow 70% for us and 30% for the snails, then the neighbours eats them

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      • #4
        I've got a patch worked out for my sweetcorn and WAS thinking about plonking a squash or two underneath but not sure about the beans as I'm already growing three types on canes in a different bed Things may change but so far it's more of a Two Sisters
        If I'm not on the Grapevine I can usually be found here!....https://www.thecomfreypatch.co.uk/

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        • #5
          I tried 3 sisters a few times but ended up just doing squash and sweetcorn.

          I found it hard to get inside the jungle to get at the beans on a regular basis and avoid treading on the plants beneath.
          2 sisters worked really well though!
          "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

          Location....Normandy France

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          • #6
            Corn with squash planted outside and allowed to ramble through does work, but I didn't have success when I tried all 3 sisters

            Snap Nicos!
            Last edited by Thelma Sanders; 10-04-2016, 11:11 AM.

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            • #7
              As far as I know Three Sisters was traditionally used for drying beans and flint corn, both of which are harvested when they are mature and dry, so they were left alone during the growing season and dealt with at the end. I think flint corn grows a bit taller too.

              I go for 2 Sisters - either sweetcorn and squash or tomatoes and oca or squash. Both work well.
              http://mudandgluts.com - growing fruit and veg in suburbia

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              • #8
                When I first tried 3 sisters it did work but the corn was planted in groups rather than blocks.
                It was a very long time ago when I had a much bigger plot....

                You made a big (several feet across) manure mound, put half a dozen or so corn plants on it, sowed the beans (french though, not runners) beside each corn....and a week or two later you added a squash/pumpkin plant. During the season you keep tucking the squash vine back around the corn 'clump' and you can reach the beans because you can walk round on all sides.
                You made as many mounds as you like and could therefore grow different varieties of beans on each one if you wanted.

                I seem to remember it worked rather well but I did hand pollinate the corn because the West indian men on the site were adamant I should (and they grew amazing corn so I did as I was told!).
                I felt that the winding of the squash plant around the corn helped to support the stems.

                I can't remember why I stopped doing it this way....sheer stupity probably, maybe just that I was young and not confident and everyone else grew in tidy blocks...but three sisters never worked for me in blocks, only in clumps.
                http://goneplotterin.blogspot.co.uk/

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                • #9
                  Interesting muddled

                  I'd give that a try, I bet it looks lovely.
                  Dwarf French beans?...I thought you used climbers for this usually ?


                  Pity I can't grow corn...we gave a badger set about 100 yds from the potager...it'd be like laying out a birthday buffet table for them
                  "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

                  Location....Normandy France

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                  • #10
                    Until I got my second plot I grew courgettes under the sweetcorn. That worked well.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Nicos View Post
                      Interesting muddled

                      Dwarf French beans?...I thought you used climbers for this usually ?
                      Sorry...its pole beans (are they not climbing french beans? I've been saying it wrong for decades then!), climbers but not 10 footers like runner beans.
                      Cherokee trail of tears I've always felt are particularly appropriate!
                      Last edited by muddled; 10-04-2016, 05:10 PM.
                      http://goneplotterin.blogspot.co.uk/

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