Growing Green Beans

Don’t let the word “Green” in green beans fool you. Green beans come in several colors. There is green, yellow, usually called wax, purple and a mix of several other colors.

Fresh, home-grown green beans have the best taste. You can only get one type of bush bean in the store. It is the green one, about six inches long. You will not find purple or yellow. You will not find the 12-to-32-inch beans either.

Beans are either bush or pole. If growing pole beans, they will need to have some sort of trellis to grow on. Some people will plant them with corn or grey stripe sunflowers so that the beans can grow up them.

While growing green beans are easy, there are some things that must be done correctly.

First of all it has to be warm, at least 65 to 70 degrees for the soil temperature. Do not confuse this with the ambient temperature. Green beans do not like cool temperatures below 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

But beans do not like temperatures above 90 degrees. If the beans are too cold or too hot, they produce but the beans will have a woody texture to taste.

Here in South Texas you can get an early spring crop and a fall crop. If planned just right, we can harvest beans on Thanksgiving Day so we have fresh beans to make green bean casserole.

But, a time or two we have lost our gamble, as it froze before Thanksgiving.

We have also tried covering them. They did not freeze but they have the woody texture and taste.

Green beans are not recommended for transplanting. They are fast growers so gardeners really do not save anything when transplanting. In the picture below, the beans on the left were transplanted. They were about six inches tall when transplanted. The ones on the right were planted about ten days later. As you can see, there is nothing to gain by transplanting green beans or any bean for the matter.

We had a customer complain that the bean seeds they planted did not come up. I asked how deep they planted. They said two inches. Honestly, ¾ of an inch to one inch is more than deep enough for beans. Seeds have enough energy to germinate, and break surface where photosynthesis takes place and allows the plant to grow. If planted too deep, the seed runs out of energy and dies before breaking the surface. The grower does not know this so he says the seed was not any good.

The beans can be planted two inches by two inches apart in a raised bed that is four feet wide. If planting more than four foot wide leave a 3-foot wide walkway between the raised beds.

See our germination guide for more information and tips.

When the beans are at pencil width, they are ready to pick. This is the point where you get the best taste. Bush beans will all ripen in about two weeks. Pole beans will continue to produce until it gets to about 60 degrees.

Some sellers of bean seeds say you should inoculate them for better germination. I have not noticed any difference one way or the other.

When the season is done the plants can be pulled up and chopped up for compost or to refresh the soil for the next vegetable.

Beans can be canned and will last for years. We had a jar that sat on the shelf for 30 years. When we opened it there was no smell and they tasted great. They can be blanched and frozen for about six months. They can be freeze dried and will last for years.

Some beans may develop powdery mildew. If this is a problem in your area, pretreat with an organic fungicide. Most insects that eat beans can be controlled with an organic insecticide like Pyrethrin or Spinosad.

I grow Provider green beans in the fall. I prefer to grow Contender and Blue Lake 274 green beans in the spring.

Fertilize using any of the organic products from Medina Agriculture.

Any questions contact me at davidgardenseeds@outlook.com.

David Schulze

Owner

David's Garden Seeds

Veteran owned Small Business

5029 FM2504

Poteet, TX 78065

210-502-3797

www.davidsgardenseeds.com