[tippben]

I'm going to try this growing method, apparently developed in America, and popular in Portugal. The idea is to grow a block of sweetcorn, with climbing beans and squash. The beans climb the corn and help feed it, while squash trails through the bottom. Has anybody ever tried or seen this? Specifically, I'd like to know how the planting is staggered, or are the three plants all put in together?

[michael brenock]

space the plants 2 ft (60cms) apart and train the beans to grow towards the corn. The beans will not provide any Nitrogen for the corn during the growing year, it is only when the roots begin to rot the following year that the nitrogen is released. There is no known way that the beans could feed the neighbouring plants. Each plant has a demand for sunlight and if corn and beans are growing overhead the plants at ground level will not get their full requirement and will not be able to give of their best. The planting together is a compromise and for any compromise there is a price to be paid.
michael brenock horticultural advisor (retired)

[Ben Yezir]

I tried this a couple of years ago and as Michael suggests, it was a disappointment. Nothing really thrived as well as the crops did when planted separately. Perhaps you need more heat? Perhaps other factors are at work. It was a terrible summer anyhow, so very un-South American.

[tippben]

Bugger. The idea sounded appealing. I still have room for a block of corn, a patty pan and two ukichi kuri. I can plant the beans along my fenceline to straggle along the chicken wire. All is not lost!