How to Grow Long Shelling Beans & the pH

Break the ground 8 inches deep with a pickaxe and shovel. Select a planting site in full sun all day. Incorporate 1 to 2 inches compost into the soil. Do not apply any nitrogen to prevent leafy growth at the crop's expense. Rake the surface to smooth it out.

Sow the seeds after the day temperature begins to range from 77 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, dropping to no lower than 59 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Plant the yard-long bean seeds 2 inches deep in a raised bed 2 inches higher than the surface. Grow multiple vines 6 to 12 inches apart with 3 feet of space between two rows.

Irrigate the bed at planting. Keep the seeds and vines moist through harvest. The plants tolerate drought, but the quality of the crop suffers in dry conditions.

Install a trellis or poles by the seeds. As the bean plants begin to grow, wrap the stems around the support by hand to train them to twine around it as they develop. Prune the stems' tips when they get to the highest point you want them to reach.

Harvest the pods 70 days after sowing the seeds for a crop of long shelling dry beans. Clip the pods off the stems with a pair of shears daily as they mature. Store them tied in bunches of one dozen pods each.