During the first stage of its development, a bean seedling emerges from the bean seed. The phase continues until three nodes are visible on the main stem. In warm soil, germination takes about one week. In cooler soil, germination can take longer.
As soon as branches start developing, the bean plant has entered the second stage of development, rapid vegetative growth. At this time, a new node develops on the bean plant every three days. New branches develop in leaf axes at each node. This stage of bean development continues for another two weeks.
When blossoms appear at the nodes, the third developmental phase is beginning. Generally, this occurs about 32 to 40 days after planting. During this phase, the pods grow to 5 to 6 inches long. Flowering and development of pods continues for about two weeks to produce the seeds that will reach prime maturity.
The final stage of the bean is pod fill and maturation. During this phase, the seeds grow to full size in the bean pod, "filling" the pod. Generally, this phase occurs about 40 to 50 days after the original bean seeds were planted. Beans continue to mature for another 20 days.