Pole Beans and Treated Lumber

Question

This year I was planning to build an arbor for my pole beans to grow on. The top and sides of the arbor will be lattice for the beans to grow. Is ACQ treated lattice safe for beans? Do the beans gather any nutrients from the support system where the chemicals in the lattice would be introduced into the food? Or should I go for the vinyl lattice?

Answer 1

You should be leery of using ANY type of treated wood around edible plants, regardless of whether they are deemed safe, as apparently this type is. According to the EPA, this type of wood preservative is supposed to be safe enough to use in the garden. However, just to be on the safe side, I would probably go with vinyl. The choice is yours.