Beans | Walter Reeves: The Georgia Gardener

Phaseolus vulgaris Beans may be the most diverse garden vegetables, ranking second only to tomatoes in popularity. Common beans are probably native to South America and were grown there for centuries before Europeans began growing them.

• More detailed information can be found in The Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Book by Walter Reeves and Felder Rushing

• See also:

Bean Sprouts

Home Garden Beans

Georgia Gardening

Vegetable Garden Calendar

Small Garden Plan

When to Harvest Vegetables

All beans are members of the legume family, Leguminosae,which can extract and use nitrogen from the air. Most beans are grown for their seeds and pods. The tender pods, which are used before the seeds mature, are called snap beans because the pods snap easily when bent. Snap beans may be green or yellow (wax beans). Shell beans, such as limas, are harvested before maturity, and the seeds are removed, or shelled. Dry beans are grown for the seeds, which are allowed to mature before harvest and are shelled from the pods for use. Bean plants may be either bush types or runners. The runners are called pole beans; they may be allowed to vine along the ground, but gardeners usually grow them on supports.

WHEN TO PLANT

Sow seeds about 2 weeks before the latest date of last frost; these tender plants cannot tolerate a freeze. Planting seeds every 3 weeks until the beginning of August will assure a continuous supply of fresh snap beans (NOTE: late summer-planted beans, like other summer vegetables, are more susceptible to insect damage and drought.

WHERE TO PLANT

A location with at least 6 hours of sunlight a day and well-drained soil will produce healthy beans for you. Giving them a full-sun location (8 to 10 hours will suffice) will make them even happier. Beneficial bacteria are necessary for nitrogen fixation, and if beans have never been grown in the garden, you may need to add beneficial bacteria to the soil. Garden stores or garden catalogs list them as legume innoculants.

HOW TO PLANT

Prepare the soil for planting. Sow seeds of bush beans 2 to 3 inches apart, and cover them with 1 inch of soil. Sow seeds of pole beans 6 inches apart in rows along a fence or trellis, or sow them in hills of 6 seeds around poles set 3 feet apart; then cover the seeds with 1 inch of soil. You may need to help pole beans get started on their supports-they twine counterclockwise. Make a three-pole teepee tied at the top, or individual drive poles securely into the ground in each hill. Where soil insects have been troublesome-damaging roots or stems before they emerge-you may have to apply an approved granular or water-mixed garden soil insecticide, mixed or used according to directions, to protect the seeds as they germinate. Beans may not germinate well if they are kept too wet so we cannot overemphasize the importance of good drainage. Moisten them at planting time but do not keep them constantly soaked.

CARE AND MAINTENANCE

Beans require little care except regular weeding and adequate water if the weather is dry. The plants need about 1 inch of water per week. Pests may affect the plantings, but rotating the bean plantings to a different place in the garden each year reduces pest problems. Apply an approved insecticide to control bean beetles, which will eat holes in the leaves. Planting disease-resistant varieties will go a long way toward producing a good bean crop. To avoid spreading disease, do not work in the beans when they are wet. Diseases include bean mosaic disease (affected plants turn yellowish green and do not produce beans) and bacterial blight, evidenced by brown spots on the leaves or water-soaked spots on the pods.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Pole beans are much easier to harvest than bush beans because they are up in the air and no bending over is involved. They also produce longer from a single seeding than the bush types. In exceptionally hot weather, pollination may be poor, resulting in few beans. The pollen fails to grow a pollen tube through the pistil and the unfertilized ova fail to grow. Don’t be alarmed, however; production will resume when the weather moderates. Harvest snap beans when the pods are firm and fully elongated, but before the seeds begin to swell. Pick beans regularly to keep the plants producing. Expect to be able to harvest bush beans 2 or 3 times, and then discard the planting. Pick pole beans all season; they will continue to produce if kept picked clean. Pick lima beans when the seeds are tender, green, and fully developed. If you wait until they are overly ripe, they will be tough and mealy. Limas can be left to mature and harvested as dry beans, although dry beans are rarely grown in home gardens because they are so inexpensive to buy. If you do choose to grow them, harvest them after the pods dry and begin to split open. Pull up mature plants, and hang them in a dry place until the pods split.

VARIETIES

Variety Days to Maturity Comments

Dark Red Kidney 95 Use in soup, chili

Great Northern 90 Half runner, white

Pinto 90 Standard in Mexican, half runner

White Kidney 90 Bush, white, kidney-shaped beans

Blue Lake 58 Mosaic resistant

Bush Kentucky Wonder 57 Long, flat pods

Contender 50 Mosaic resistant

Derby 57 AAS

Jade 53 Long, slender pods

Labrador 57 Best in cooler climates

Tendercrop 55 Mosaic resistant

Tendergreen Improved 54 Mosaic resistant

Topcrop 50 Meaty

Fordhook 242 75 AAS

LIMA BUSH, SMALL-SEEDED

Baby Fordhook 70 Small beans

Eastland 70 Heavy yield

Henderson 65 Flat pods

Jackson Wonder 65 Purple spots

Thorogreen 66 Tall plants

LIMA POLE

King of the Garden 88 Tasty

Prizetaker 90 Giant seeds

Sieva 72 Baby lima

POLE

Blue Lake 65 Mosaic resistant

Kentucky Blue 65 AAS; heavy producer, long season

Kentucky Wonder 65 Good flavor

Kentucky Wonder Wax 68 Yellow

Purple Pod 65 Heavy crop

Romano 60 Flat pods

Scarlet Runner 70 Novelty

PURPLE BUSH

Royalty 55 Original purple bush beans

ROMANO

Bush Romano 56 Delicious broad, flat pods

Jumbo 55 Big Italian type

Roma II 53 Broad, flat pods

Romano 942 57 Hybrid

Wax Romano 59 Yellow

WAX BUSH

Cherokee Wax 50 Mosaic resistant

Goldcrop 54 AAS

Golden Wax 50 Stringless

Goldkist 56 Rust resistant

Pencilpod Wax 58 Round, pencil-like pods

Slender Wax 55 Early Coloring

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• Weed
• Beans
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• Trellis
• Pests
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