I love beans of just about all types and would like to grow some in my garden. What should I know to get started? OS

One of the great things about growing beans is that they are pretty easy to grow and there are a lot of varieties to make it interesting. Let’s take a look at what you need to know to grow beans successfully.

The first thing you will need to decide is what kind of beans do you want to grow. There are bush beans which are compact plants that work well in gardens or pots. And there are pole beans that are a vining bean that will need some sort of support to grow successfully.

Bush bean varieties to consider are Blue Lake, Contender, Jade, or Provider among others. Pole beans would include Kentucky Blue, Kentucky Wonder, Meralda, and Pinto.

Beans are pretty sensitive to cold temperatures but now that soil temperatures are in the 60’s you should be clear to plant some beans. Another great thing about beans is that they begin to produce within about 60 days so you can get a nice harvest of beans before our Oklahoma summer reaches full stride.

Before planting beans, it’s a good idea to till the top 8 to 10 inches of soil to give the beans some nice loose soil to grow in. There’s no need to soak your beans overnight before planting, but after planting give them a good soaking.

If you have enough space for several rows of bush beans, plant the seeds about 7-9 seeds per foot and make your rows about 18 inches apart. The last time I grew pole beans I made a tripod out of pvc pipe and let the plants grow up those pipes. You can plant 2 or 3 pole bean seeds around each of those tripod legs. Or you could construct an arched trellis, letting your pole beans grow on that support. Either will work.

Beans grow best in soil that is well fertilized. If you have a 10’ by 10 plot of beans, sprinkle 2 to 3 pounds of a fertilizer such as 10-20-10 throughout the space. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to sprinkle this fertilizer on the area before tilling, that way you can work it into the soil. After your plants begin to flower you can add about 1/2 cup of fertilizer for every 10 feet of bean plants.

Water is fairly critical for beans, so you don’t want to let them dry out. If the soil gets dry while the beans are blooming, the blooms will drop, negatively affecting your harvest.

Beans have shallow roots, so you’ll need to be careful when hoeing or pulling weeds. As always, a layer of mulch helps minimize the weeds and retain soil moisture for your plants.

Your beans will be ready to pick when they are about the size of a small pencil. They should snap when you bend them. If you wait too long, the beans will get tough and stringy.

Since beans are a bushy plant, they can be susceptible to powdery mildew. At the first sign of powdery mildew begin treating with neem oil per instructions on the product container. When using any horticultural oil, be sure to do a test to make sure the weather is not too hot to use these products and then spray in the evening to minimize contact with pollinator insects.

Cabbage loopers, aphids, or thrips might find a home in your bean plants. If they do you can spray bacillus thuringiensis for the cabbage loopers and insecticidal soap for the aphids or thrips. Both are organic pesticides that have a short pre-harvest interval. Be sure to read the label to determine your product’s specific pre-harvest interval. If this is a new term to you, the pre-harvest interval is the minimal period of time between when you use the product and harvest your crop. Pre-harvest interval varies by product so read the label to familiarize yourself with this metric before using any pesticide. Some synthetic pesticides have pre-harvest intervals of close to 28 days for certain crops, so again, read the label to help keep everyone safe.

Once you reach the point of harvesting your beans, do your best to do so without damaging your plants. If you pick beans at the proper time, your plants should continue to produce for several weeks.

Once you get comfortable growing beans, you might want to experiment with some of what we would consider the more exotic been varieties. I say exotic because they seem exotic to us even though they are culinary standards in different parts of the world. One of my favorites is the Chinese noodle bean. These beans come in green or red varieties and the beans can grow up to 18 inches in length. They are fun to grow and are guaranteed to be a conversation starter with visitors to your garden or your dinner table.

If a nearly 2 foot long bean isn’t enough for you, then you can get seeds for some Taiwan Yard-Long Beans. Yes, they are called yard-long beans because they can grow up to 36 inches in length.

Once you start exploring all the bean varieties that are available to you, I am guessing your garden will never look the same again. See you in the garden!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org.

Photo Courtesy - OSU