Beans for Planting

Soil Temperature

• Plant your beans outside when the soil has warmed to about 65 degrees Fahrenheit for about five days straight and there is no chance of a lingering frost. Setting the beans in early only results in slow germination and possible fungal growth on the seed. Set them as deep as they are thick in the soil and firm the soil over them to make good soil-to-seed contact. Water the planted seeds and keep the soil slightly damp until you see the first leaves appear, usually within a week.

Care

• Stay away from your bean plants while there is a chance that they might be wet from the morning dew or after a rain. Touching the leaves spreads a bacteria blight that spreads quickly through the plant and possibly the other plants nearby. Weed carefully since the beans' roots are shallow and easily disturbed. Set up your trellis, if growing pole beans, just before you set the seeds in the ground. Encourage the plants to go up the support system by tying them with sisal or cotton string.

Harvest

• Pick the beans often within a couple of days after they blossom. Green beans are edible at any stage even when they are tiny, but they taste better if you pick them before the seeds swell in the pod. Remove the beans from the plant to keep the blossoms and new beans coming longer.

Repeated Plantings

• Plant your beans at first when the soil is warm and then every two weeks afterward. Pull old plants that are no longer producing and replace them with seeds for new plants. Repeat this planting process all the way up to two weeks before the first frost as the soil will often stay warm during the day and evening well into the fall.