How to Grow Green Beans:
Bush and Pole Beans
★ SaveLearning how to grow green beans is one of the most satisfying choices a vegetable gardener can make. Beans are easy, fast, and productive, and fresh-picked beans have a flavor and snap that store beans can't match.
They are also one of the most forgiving crops for beginners. You sow them right in the garden, they sprout quickly, grow fast, produce plenty, and even add nitrogen to the soil for the next crop.
From My Garden
One of my jobs as a child was to help pick the green beans and prepare them for pressure canning. That meant cutting both ends off each bean and cutting them into about 1-inch pieces. It was time-consuming, rather tedious work, and all the while the pressure canner hissed in the background, which I found unnerving. My mother always kept a close watch on the gauge.
We canned at least 50 quarts of green beans each summer. It took several days, and it was not something my sisters, my brother, and I looked forward to! But Mom sometimes rewarded us with a trip to the river to go swimming, or maybe a trip to Dairy Queen for a treat when we were finished.
One year a young neighbor boy named Danny, about 5 years old, helped us. He cut his green beans extra long to save time. For many years after, whenever we found an extra-long green bean on our plate, we blamed it on Danny!
Charlotte
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Free Green Bean Growing Charts
Click any chart to see it full size, then print it or save it to Pinterest. They're handy reminders of how to grow green beans, right in the garden.
Bush Beans vs. Pole Beans
Pole Beans vs. Bush Beans
★ SaveBush beans are compact, self-supporting plants about two feet tall. They produce their whole crop in two to three weeks, perfect for canning and freezing. Sow a new batch every three to four weeks for fresh beans all summer.
Pole beans are climbing vines 6 to 10 feet tall that need a trellis, fence, or teepee. They start a little later, then produce all season until frost, and give more beans per plant.
| Bush beans | Pole beans | |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 18 to 24 inches; no support | 6 to 10 feet; need a trellis or poles |
| Days to harvest | 50 to 55 | 60 to 70 |
| Harvest | 2 to 3 weeks, all at once | All season until frost |
| Space | More ground per pound of beans | Less ground; grows up |
| Best for | Canning and freezing | Fresh beans all season |
| Succession planting | Needed for a steady supply | Not needed |
Flavor: many longtime gardeners find pole beans crisper and better tasting, with a mild, nutty flavor. Bush beans were bred so farmers could harvest a whole field at once.
Many gardeners grow some of both: bush beans for an early crop and for canning, and pole beans for fresh beans through late summer and fall.
Choosing Green Bean Varieties
Green beans come in more than just green: yellow wax beans, flat Italian Romano beans, slender French filet beans, and purple beans that turn green when cooked. The purple ones are easy to spot at picking time! Choosing a variety is the fun first step in how to grow green beans.
| Variety | Type | Pod color | Days | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Lake 274 | Bush | Green | 55 | The most popular home garden bean; stringless |
| Provider | Bush | Green | 50 | Cool soil and northern gardens; reliable |
| Contender | Bush | Green | 49 | Heat and disease tolerance |
| Royal Burgundy | Bush | Purple | 51 | Easy to see at harvest; cool tolerant |
| Golden Wax | Bush | Yellow | 54 | Mild, buttery wax bean |
| Maxibel | Bush | Slender green | 54 | French filet bean for fresh eating |
| Roma II | Bush | Green, flat | 53 | Italian flat bean |
| Brittle Wax | Bush | Yellow | 52 | Long, round wax bean |
| Tenderpod | Bush | Green | 50 | Early, tender 5-inch pods |
| Kentucky Wonder | Pole | Green | 65 | Classic heirloom pole bean |
| Blue Lake Pole | Pole | Green | 60 | Pole version of Blue Lake |
| Rattlesnake | Pole | Green with purple streaks | 73 | Pretty heirloom; heat tolerant |
Other beans to try: Lima beans like Fordhook 242 (bush) and King of the Garden (pole), and see our pages on runner beans, lima beans, and asparagus beans.
When and Where to Plant Green Beans
Beans are warm-season crops, killed by frost. Plant after your last frost date, when the soil is at least 60 degrees F, and closer to 65 to 70 for the best start. Seeds planted in cold soil often rot. Warm soil is the first rule of how to grow green beans.
Give beans full sun, six to eight hours a day. Make your last sowing of bush beans 50 to 60 days before your first fall frost.
Rotate: don't plant beans where beans or peas grew last year, to keep soil diseases from building up.
Soil Preparation
Beans need less fertilizer than most vegetables. Bacteria in little nodules on their roots pull nitrogen from the air. Too much nitrogen gives you big leafy plants with few beans. So when you learn how to grow green beans, go easy on the fertilizer.
Work about 2 inches of compost into loose, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8. Skip high-nitrogen extras like blood meal or fresh manure. Raised beds are ideal; a 4 x 4 foot bed holds 24 to 32 bush bean plants.
Those little round balls on the roots are a good sign: they are the nitrogen-fixing nodules. Most stay in the soil when you pull the plants, feeding the next crop. (Swollen, knobby roots that can't be pulled apart are a sign of nematodes instead.)
Inoculant: catalogs sell a powder of these root bacteria to dust on seeds where beans have never grown. I have grown green beans for years without it and had good crops, so I don't consider it necessary, but it does no harm.
How to Plant Green Beans
How to Plant Green Beans
★ SaveAlways sow beans right in the garden. They grow so fast that starting them indoors gives no advantage, and transplanting sets them back.
- Bush beans: Sow 1 inch deep, 2 to 4 inches apart, in single or wide rows 18 to 24 inches apart. Thin to 4 to 6 inches by snipping extra seedlings with scissors, so you don't disturb the roots of the ones you keep.
- Pole beans: Put up supports first. Sow 5 or 6 seeds around each pole and thin to the best 3 or 4, or sow every 6 inches along a trellis.
- Bean teepee: Tie 6- to 8-foot stakes together at the top, set in an 18-inch circle. Clean and reuse the poles for years.
- How many: 8 to 10 bush plants per person for fresh eating, 25 to 30 per person for canning, or 4 to 6 pole bean plants per person.
Seeds sprout in 5 to 10 days in warm soil, and up to two weeks in cool soil. Soaking seeds in lukewarm water for 2 to 4 hours before planting gives them a quick start; don't soak longer, or they may split or rot. If nothing comes up in three weeks, the soil was probably too cold or wet; replant with fresh seed.
Protect the sprouts. Birds and rabbits love young bean plants. Cover the row with a tunnel of 1-inch chicken wire at least 6 inches high, and take it off after a couple of weeks.
★ Save
Watering and Feeding Green Beans
Beans need steady moisture, especially while seeds sprout and when plants flower. Dry soil at flowering makes the blossoms drop without setting beans. Even watering is a simple part of how to grow green beans that makes a big difference.
- Water: About an inch a week; deep watering twice a week beats a daily sprinkle. Water at the base to keep the leaves dry.
- Mulch: 2 inches of straw or shredded leaves holds moisture and keeps soil from splashing onto the plants.
- Feed lightly: One low-nitrogen fertilizer at planting is usually enough. If leaves turn pale while plants are producing, side-dress lightly with a low-nitrogen, higher-phosphorus fertilizer.
Lots of flowers but no beans? Usually too much nitrogen, or heat above 90 degrees F. Stop fertilizing, keep watering, and wait for cooler days.
How to Harvest Green Beans
★ SavePick often, pick young. Harvest when pods are firm, bright, and snap cleanly, about as thick as a pencil, before the seeds bulge. Old pods turn tough and stringy and tell the plant to stop producing. Frequent picking is the secret of how to grow green beans that keep producing.
Bush beans often flower again after the first picking and give a second, smaller harvest. Pole beans keep producing all season as long as you keep picking.
Pick every two to three days in peak season, in the morning after the dew dries; picking wet plants spreads disease. Hold the stem as you snap off each pod so you don't tear the plant.
| Bean type | Pick at | Too old when |
|---|---|---|
| Snap beans | 5 to 7 inches, pencil-thick | Seeds bulge; pods yellow and stringy |
| French filet | 3 to 4 inches, matchstick-thin | Any thickening |
| Yellow wax | 5 to 6 inches, bright yellow | Pale or greenish, tough skin |
| Purple | 5 to 6 inches, deep purple | Color dulls, seeds bulge |
| Romano (flat) | 5 to 7 inches, flat and tender | Bumpy with seeds |
| Lima | When seeds fill the pods, before they yellow | Pods turn yellow (for dry limas, wait until pods are brown and rattle) |
Succession Planting for a Steady Harvest
Succession Planting Green Beans
★ SaveSow bush beans every three to four weeks from your last frost date until 50 to 60 days before your first fall frost. Three or four sowings give you fresh beans from early summer into fall. See our vegetable planting calendar and succession planting guide.
Common Green Bean Problems
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Seeds don't sprout | Cold or soggy soil; old seed | Wait for 60°F soil; good drainage; fresh seed |
| Plants wilt and die | Root rot in wet soil | Improve drainage; raised beds; don't overwater |
| Lacy, skeletonized leaves | Mexican bean beetle | Pick off yellow egg clusters and larvae; neem oil; row covers on young plants |
| Mottled, curled leaves | Bean mosaic virus (spread by aphids) | Remove sick plants; control aphids; grow resistant varieties |
| Flowers but no beans | Heat over 90°F, or too much nitrogen | Keep watering; wait for cooler weather; stop fertilizing |
| Tough, stringy pods | Picked too late | Pick more often, at pencil thickness |
| Aphids on tips | Aphids | Spray of water; insecticidal soap; neem oil |
| Rusty spots on leaves | Bean rust fungus | Water at the base; pick only when dry; plant resistant varieties |
Caterpillars, mites, and nematodes can also bother beans. A healthy garden with flowers nearby brings the helpful insects that keep most pests in check. Learning to spot them early is part of how to grow green beans successfully.
Companion Planting for Green Beans
Companion Plants for Green Beans
★ Save- Good companions: Corn and squash (the Three Sisters), carrots, cucumbers, strawberries, celery, and potatoes.
- Keep apart: Onions, garlic, leeks, chives, and shallots, which can slow the helpful bacteria on bean roots. Keep fennel away too.
See our companion planting chart for every vegetable.
How to Grow Green Beans in Containers
Bush beans are perfect for pots. A 5-gallon container holds 4 to 6 plants, a 10-gallon pot 8 to 10, and a half-barrel 15 to 20. If you have no garden bed, this is how to grow green beans on a porch or patio.
Use quality potting mix with slow-release fertilizer. Water daily in warm weather and feed lightly every two to three weeks. Pole beans need a very large container and a tall support. More in our container gardening guide.
Storing, Freezing, and Canning Green Beans
★ Save- Fresh: Keep unwashed beans in a bag in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days.
- Freeze: Blanch 2 to 3 minutes, cool in ice water, drain, and freeze. They keep 8 to 10 months. See freezing green beans.
- Can: Green beans are low in acid and must be pressure canned, never water-bath canned. See canning green beans.
- Pickle: Dilly beans, pickled with dill and garlic, can be water-bath canned with a tested pickling recipe.
Label your jars with our free printable canning jar labels.
Green Bean Questions
- How long do green beans take to grow?
- Bush beans are ready about 50 to 55 days after sowing. Pole beans start in 60 to 70 days, then produce all season.
- How many bean plants do I need?
- 8 to 10 bush plants per person for fresh eating, 25 to 30 per person for canning, or 4 to 6 pole bean plants per person.
- Should I soak bean seeds before planting?
- It isn't necessary, but soaking in lukewarm water for 2 to 4 hours (no longer) gives seeds a quick start.
- Can green beans grow in partial shade?
- They'll grow with 4 to 5 hours of sun, but you'll get far fewer beans than in full sun.
- Why are my beans flowering but not making pods?
- Heat above 90 degrees F, dry soil at flowering, or too much nitrogen. Keep watering and wait for cooler weather.
- Do I need to inoculate bean seeds?
- It can help in soil where beans have never grown, but many gardeners, including me, grow good crops without it.
Source: University of Illinois Extension.
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