Growing Green Beans - Tips on How to Grow Snap Green Beans

Beans go by a number of different names. Snap beans, string beans, or green beans, they are all about green beans. One of the more productive garden crops, they are a warm weather favorite, can even be eaten uncooked from the garden or on a salad, in addition to your favorite casserole recipe.

Green beans prefer full sun, at least 6-8 hours a day. The soil temperature should be above 60 degrees for best germination, and they do best with soil temperatures in the 70-80 degreed F for growth. As green beans are a member of the legume family, and are often used to improve soil conditions as they will fix nitrogen in the soil, they don’t need the best soil conditions to thrive. The preferred soil pH is about 5.8 to 6.5. Green beans can be successfully grown in containers.

Planting - Plant the seeds about 1-1.5 inches deep, maybe 2 inches deep in the summer for a fall planting. The seeds should germinate in 5-10 days, and will start yielding in 50 to 70 days for bush varieties, and a little longer for pole varieties. Beans do best with direct seeding, and are usually not started as transplants. If you choose to start them indoors, try using peat pots or peat pellets so that the roots will not be disturbed as much when transplanting them. Thin the plants to 3-4 inches apart, and if in rows space the rows about 2 to 2.5 feet apart. They can be grown in wide rows or beds as well.

Pole beans are sometimes planted in hills spaced 3 feet apart.
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When beans are planted in a new garden, you might increase yields by inoculating with nitrogen-fixing bacteria you may find at most garden stores. In an established garden, this is probably unnecessary.

Fertilizer needs - Beans are not a heavy feeder, and an initial application of a slow release or organic fertilizer at planting time will often suffice.

Watering - About 1 inch of water a week, with an emphasis on consistent watering once the pods start to develop.

Types of green beans - There are two major types of green beans, pole beans and bush beans. As the name implies, pole beans will climb and usually need some type of support like a poles, a trellis, or cages. Their productive period will last longer than the bush variety and will have higher yields. Because they fix nitrogen in the soil they are often seen as an ideal companion crop for corn, as it will give the beans support, and in return the beans supply some of the nitrogen that corn craves.

On the other hand, bush beans will mature more quickly, don’t need support, and will have a productive burst lasting two to four weeks, while pole beans will keep yielding for much of the season. Often bush bean plantings are staggered by a couple of weeks to stretch out the harvest period.

Beans should be picked while the pods still snap, and the beans have not filled the pod out completely. If you let them stay on the vine too long, they will get leathery and the vine will stop producing beans. When harvesting, use 2 hands to hold the bean and pull it from the stem, yanking it off the stem with one hand can often damage the plant.