The Average Yield for a Shell Bean Plant

Time Your Plantings

• Because the amount of shell beans can vary, plant four to eight plants per household member to ensure you have enough for the family. Plant shell beans after the last frost date for your area. You can start bean seeds indoors three to four weeks before the last average spring frost and transplant into the garden about two weeks after the last frost. Shell beans are tender annuals that require a temperature of between 50 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit to thrive.

Correctly Space and Water

• Choose a site for shell beans that receives full sun; beans grown in partial shade produce less. Sow bean seeds 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep, spacing plants 3 to 4 inches apart and leaving 18 to 24 inches between rows. Shell beans need evenly moist soil, and seeds may crack and not germinate in wet soil, so do not soak seeds before sowing and do not overwater. If the soil is allowed to dry out during pod formation, plants will produce smaller and fewer pods.

No Extra Nitrogen

• Shell beans, like other bean varieties, are nitrogen-fixing plants and produce all the nitrogen the plants need through the exchange of soil microorganisms. For this reason, do not grow shell beans where soil nitrogen is high, such as in areas where green manure crops were recently grown. Additionally, avoid using high-nitrogen fertilizers and green manures. Plants that receive too much nitrogen produce an abundance of leaves, but very few pods.

Harvest: Dry or Shuckies

• Harvest shell beans when pods are dry and splitting open. You can shell beans by hand or by threshing them in a burlap bag. If beans are still moist at harvest, spread them out on a flat screen in a warm area to finish drying. You can also pick the entire plant and hang it upside down until the pods dry. Beans can be picked, shelled and eaten while still green and tender; these are known as "shuckies."