How to grow Green Beans

Phaseolus vulgaris · string beans, snap beans

Fast-growing legumes that produce edible pods. They can be grown as bushy plants or climbing vines.

Green Beans — Photo: Rasbak, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Fabaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6–7
Frost	does not tolerate frost
Soil for sowing	from 12 °C
Germination	7 days
Seedlings ready	30 days
Sowing to harvest	60 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

Sow for seedlings about 5 weeks before planting out.

Plant out in open ground about a week after your last spring frost, once the soil is warm.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

The first harvest comes about 60 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	18…24 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	15…26 °C	nitrogen, 14 days into the stage
Flowering	every 2 days	15…26 °C	phosphorus and potassium, at the start of the stage
Fruiting	every 2 days	15…26 °C	potassium, 14 days into the stage

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Growth	every 4 days	12…28 °C	—
Flowering	every 3 days	12…28 °C	phosphorus and potassium, at the start of the stage
Fruiting	every 3 days	12…28 °C	potassium, 14 days into the stage

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	18…24 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	18…24 °C	balanced (NPK), 14 days into the stage
Flowering	every 2 days	18…24 °C	phosphorus and potassium, at the start of the stage
Fruiting	every 2 days	18…24 °C	potassium, 14 days into the stage

Growing notes

Light

Requires full sun to prevent mildew and ensure heavy pod production.

Soil

Well-drained, loamy soil. Avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers which promote leaves over pods.

Care

Provide sturdy poles or trellises for climbing varieties. Water at the base of the plant to keep foliage dry. Harvest pods frequently to encourage the plant to keep producing.

How to tell it is ripe

Pods are fully elongated, firm and crisp-looking, with no bulge of seeds showing: this is the best eating stage.
Over-mature pods show the bumps of swelling beans through the skin and become tough.
A ready pod breaks cleanly with a snap when bent.
Pick often, once the dew has dried off the plants, holding the brittle stems so they do not break.

Pests and diseases of Green Beans

Anthracnose
Grey Mold
Rust
Two-spotted spider mite
White mould (Sclerotinia)
Whitefly

Sources

Figures cited from these sources.