Snap bean, also called string bean, green bean or wax bean; shell bean, also called horticultural bean (Phaseolus vul garis); Lima bean, also called butter bean (P. limensis, also called P. lunatus macrocarpus); baby Lima bean, also called baby butter bean (P. lunatus); edible soybean (Glycine soja, also called G. max).
Set poles about 2 feet apart in rows 3 feet apart, and plant four to six seeds around each; after the plants have sprouted, thin out all but the best three or four in each group. If pole beans are grown along fences, sow seeds singly about 6 inches apart.
Snap beans and shell beans may be grown in all parts of the U.S. and southern Canada. Lima beans, baby Lima beans and edible soybeans do best where summers are long and hot, and night temperatures remain above 50 for a period of at least two months (four months in the case of edible soybeans).
Snap beans should be harvested while they are still immature-that is, while the pods are still tender, moist and succulent, and still able to snap when they are bent. All other types of beans are ready for harvesting when the beans inside the pods are fully formed (open a pod to see).
The length of time required from seeding to harvest varies according to the type of bean planted: bush varieties of snap beans and shell beans need about 8 weeks; pole varieties of snap beans and shell beans, 9 weeks; bush Lima beans and bush baby Lima beans, 9 to 10 weeks; pole Lima beans and pole baby Lima beans, 13 weeks; and edible soybeans, 15 weeks.
If you have an oversupply of beans, you can dry them for future use by letting the pods mature on the vine until they become beige-colored. Then remove the beans from the pods and heat them in a 130 to 145 oven for an hour to kill any bean weevils that may have burrowed into the pods while they were still green. - 15266
Set poles about 2 feet apart in rows 3 feet apart, and plant four to six seeds around each; after the plants have sprouted, thin out all but the best three or four in each group. If pole beans are grown along fences, sow seeds singly about 6 inches apart.
Snap beans and shell beans may be grown in all parts of the U.S. and southern Canada. Lima beans, baby Lima beans and edible soybeans do best where summers are long and hot, and night temperatures remain above 50 for a period of at least two months (four months in the case of edible soybeans).
Snap beans should be harvested while they are still immature-that is, while the pods are still tender, moist and succulent, and still able to snap when they are bent. All other types of beans are ready for harvesting when the beans inside the pods are fully formed (open a pod to see).
The length of time required from seeding to harvest varies according to the type of bean planted: bush varieties of snap beans and shell beans need about 8 weeks; pole varieties of snap beans and shell beans, 9 weeks; bush Lima beans and bush baby Lima beans, 9 to 10 weeks; pole Lima beans and pole baby Lima beans, 13 weeks; and edible soybeans, 15 weeks.
If you have an oversupply of beans, you can dry them for future use by letting the pods mature on the vine until they become beige-colored. Then remove the beans from the pods and heat them in a 130 to 145 oven for an hour to kill any bean weevils that may have burrowed into the pods while they were still green. - 15266
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Learn about vegetable gardening tips so that you can maintain a healthy vegetable garden.
