How to Grow Beans (Bush and Pole)

I love growing a diversity of veggies in our garden but I really love to grow beans. I think I might even been known for my pole beans! But whether you grow bush or pole beans, you’ll be amazed at the size of the harvest.

Latin Name: Phaseolus vulgaris
Plant Family: Fabaceae
Warm-season crop

Did You Know?

Beans are a delight to grow because they are really prolific and make an attractive addition to your garden. As legumes, beans have a symbiotic relationship with soil-dwelling bacteria. They store nitrogen in their roots in exchange for carbohydrates. By leaving the plant material in the soil at the end of the season, much of the nitrogen will be available for the next crop.

In my garden, I grow pole beans on an arbor that spans the pathway between two raised beds. This is a space-saver and looks very cool. In addition, most of the beans hang down on the inside of the vines. And best of all, I get to stand underneath the arbor in the shade while picking them. Pole beans can also be grown on teepee-type supports or on a trellis made from a cattle panel (found at farm stores).

Bush beans are also productive but over a much shorter period of time (about 3 weeks) than pole beans. The photo below shows a bed of bush beans.

Plant Seeds or Seedlings? To grow beans, there are two options. You can sow seeds directly in the garden or start the seeds indoors two weeks before transplanting them into the garden.

When: If sowing seeds directly, plant them after all danger of frost is past. If starting seeds indoors, plant them two weeks before the anticipated last frost date.

Days to Germination: 5 to 10 days

Depth to Sow: 1 inch. For the best germination, plant the seeds with the scar (or “bellybutton”) in the inner curve facing downward.

Spacing: Plant bush bean seeds or seedlings 6 inches apart. Plant pole bean seeds or seedlings 3 inches apart.

Days to Maturity: bush 55 to 65 days; pole 65 to 75 days

Cultural Information: Prepare planting bed and sow seeds at above spacing. Once the seedlings are about 6 inches tall, feed them with diluted fish emulsion to give them a boost. The plants will grow for a few weeks before they start blooming and producing pods. Water plants regularly.

Susan’s Picks: (Bush) ‘Mascotte’, ‘Provider’, ‘Top Crop’. (Pole) ‘Blue Lake’, ‘Fortex’, ‘Musica’, ‘Helda’, ‘Kentucky Wonder’.

Potential Insect Problems: Mexican bean beetles, earwigs, thrips

When to Harvest:

You will get multiple harvests by picking beans while they are young and tender. Be sure to keep up with the harvest. Why? The more you pick, the more the plants will produce!

How to Cook & Preserve:

Beans are delicious when steamed or added to soups and stews. To freeze them for later use, blanch the beans for 3 minutes in boiling water. Cool them down in ice-cold water, drain and place in freezer bags. We use quart-size bags for this purpose and find this quantity will feed us for two dinners.

Back to Vegetable Grow Guide Chart

Copyright: Susan Mulvihill, Susan’s in the Garden, SusansintheGarden.com.