How to grow Bush Beans

Where to plant

Beans need full sun and fertile, well drained soil. They are warm season plants that grow best at about 60 to 75°F (16 to 24°C), and seed rots in cold, wet ground, so do not sow until the soil is at least 60°F at 4 inches deep.

In the North, the Midwest, the Mountain West and the Pacific Northwest, sow from late May into June, with follow up sowings until about mid July. In the Mid-Atlantic, the Mid-South and the Southern Plains, sow from late spring into July. In Florida, the Gulf South, Texas and the desert, beans are a spring and fall crop: sow in early spring, then again in late summer, and skip the hottest months, when flowers drop in the heat. South Florida grows them from September through April, and Hawaii all year.

Choosing a variety

Bush beans come in green, yellow (wax) and purple podded types. Reliable varieties include Contender, which tolerates heat, Provider, a dependable early variety, Blue Lake and Tendercrop for green pods, Gold Crop and Kinghorn Wax for yellow pods, and Royal Burgundy, whose purple pods turn green when cooked. Pole bean varieties such as Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake pole crop over a longer season on a trellis.

How to plant

1. Work compost into the bed before sowing. Beans need little fertilizer, and too much nitrogen gives leaves instead of pods.
2. Wait until the soil reaches at least 60°F. Under plastic mulch or row cover, you can sow 2 to 3 weeks before the last frost.
3. Sow seeds about 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep and 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) apart, in rows 18 to 24 inches apart or in a block.
4. Water once after sowing, then keep the soil just moist. Soggy soil rots the seed.
5. Sow again every two to three weeks for a continuous harvest, until about mid July in the North or until the heat arrives in the South.

Watering and feeding

Water regularly to keep the soil evenly moist. Utah State notes that water stress during and after flowering makes the flowers drop and gives smaller, stringier pods. Do not overwater, as wet soil brings root rot. Water at the base in the morning so the leaves dry quickly, which cuts down on rust and blight.

Beans fix their own nitrogen through bacteria on their roots, so they need no extra fertilizer if compost or a general fertilizer went in at planting. A summer mulch of straw or grass clippings keeps the roots cool and the soil moist.

Pruning and care through the year

• Weed carefully while plants are small, without hoeing deep enough to damage the shallow roots.
• Stay out of the bean patch when the leaves are wet, which spreads disease from plant to plant.
• Rotate beans to a new bed each year to reduce soil borne disease.
• Pull and compost plants once they stop cropping, or dig them in to return nitrogen to the soil.

Harvesting

Pick snap beans when the pods are full sized, firm and smooth, and snap cleanly, before the seeds bulge through the pod. Overmature pods turn tough and stringy. Pick every couple of days, holding the stem with one hand, since frequent picking keeps the plants setting more pods for several weeks.

Use fresh beans soon after picking for the best quality, or blanch and freeze them. For dry beans, leave the pods on the plant until they turn yellow and dry, then shell them.

Growing in pots

Bush beans grow well in a pot or trough at least 12 inches (30 cm) wide and 10 to 12 inches deep, with drainage holes. Sow seeds a few inches apart and water often in warm weather, as dry mix makes the flowers drop.