Bean

• A three-year rotation helps reduce some diseases. Make sure your beans have good drainage as they can be susceptible to root rot.

• Ensure you don’t add too much nitrogen to the soil – as beans fix nitrogen into the soil, they don’t need any extra. If too much nitrogen is added to the soil, the bean plants will produce lots of leaves and vines but little fruit.

• You can succession plant beans to ensure a more regular harvest throughout the season.

Beans can either be sown directly in the soil outside, or can be germinated indoors. Indoor germination tends to be faster and more reliable. Never soak bean seeds before germination as they tend to crack easily – this leads to poor germination.

To sow inside, prepare a propagator tray or series of small pots with multipurpose compost. Sow one seed per pot / space, about 4 cm deep, cover with soil and water in gently. Position in a sunny spot to germinate – a windowsill is often an ideal location.

By our calculations*, you should look at sowing Bean about 14 days after your last frost date .

Prepare the soil by adding lots of organic matter to the soil – this will help to increase the soil’s ability to retain water, and will ensure the beans have enough nutrients in the soil to begin growing as they love to grow in rich soils. Well rotted compost or manure are ideal for this. Choose a good spot for your beans: they tend to do best with at least 6 hours of sunlight a day.

If transplanting from seedlings, ensure that the seedlings are fully acclimatised to the outside weather by hardening off over the course of at least a week. To do this, set them outside for a couple of hours daily increasing the time spent outside gradually until you have left them outside for an entire day.

Ensure that all danger of frost has passed, as beans are cold sensitive.

Spacing will depend on the variety of bean, but in general aim to plant bush beans 2-4 inches (5-10cm) apart in rows 18-22 inches (45-55cm) apart. Pole beans should be planted a little further apart as they have more of a sprawling habit: aim for 4-6 inches (10-15cm) apart in rows of 30-36 inches (70-90cm).

Harvest the beans when the pods are fully elongated, and are firm. This should be before the seed inside matures. Try to pick the beans when the plant is dry, as picking when wet can spread disease – particularly bacterial blight. Try to snip off cleanly using scissors or shears instead of pulling at the plant as this can cause damage to the brittle stems. Harvest regularly as the plant will develop more flowers and fruits this way.

After harvest it is important to compost or till under the leaves and stalks of the plant as all the nitrogen beans fix is in the plant and not the soil.²

Leave the pods on the plant until they are dry and brown. If frost threatens, remove whole plant and hang to dry. Shell or thresh to remove seeds. ³

These plants have been known to grow well alongside Bean so consider planting:

Eggplant, Summer savory, Corn (three sisters), Spinach, lettuce, rosemary, summer savory, dill, carrots, brassicas, beets, radish, strawberry and cucumbers ¹

• Bean loves Rhubarb

  Rhubarb helps protect beans from black fly.

• Bean loves Cucumber

These plants will not grow well with Bean so avoid planting these within close proximity:

Chili peppers, Tomatoes, Sunflowers, Onion, Garlic, Cabbage, Broccoli ¹

• Bean hates Beetroot

These problems, diseases and pests are known to affect Bean plants:

• Bean rust

• Mexican beetle

• Aphids

  Also known as greenfly and blackfly, Aphids are a common sap-sucking garden p...

• Leaf hoppers

• Spider Mites

  Tetranychus urticae (an animal with over 60 common names, including red spide...

• Bean mosaic disease

  Tend to cause plants to turn a yellow green and produce few or no pods.

• Bacterial bean blight

  Disease which causes bright yellow or brown spots on leaves.

The botanical epithet is from the Latin vulgaris meaning “common”

Bush bean, Green bean, French bean, Pole bean, Beans, Bush beans, Blue greasy grits pole bean

Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Misspellings: Climing been, Stringless Green Bean, Haricot Vertes,

Our when to plant Bean estimates are relative to your last frost date. Enter your frost dates and we'll calculate your sowing and planting dates for you!

¹ Wikipedia List of Companion Plants

² Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes

³ The New Seed-starters Handbook; Published 1988