Why Do My Greenbean Vines Not Have Flowers?

Maturity

• Green beans are annual garden plants that don't begin blossoming until they reach maturity. The presence of flowers indicates the most obvious start of the reproductive cycle. While some beans, such as snap beans, provide edible produce within 50 days of planting, other varieties, such as pole beans, take as long as 110 days. Blossoming usually occurs four to six weeks prior to pod maturity. The lack of blossoms on some green bean plants simply signals a lack of maturity. With time and the correct growing conditions, these late bloomers will go on to flower and produce bean pods.

Temperatures

• Green beans are a warm season crop that requires adequate soil warmth for health germination and growth. Planting green bean seeds into soil with a temperature below 55 degrees Fahrenheit can result in poor growth and a lack of blossoms. The optimal soil temperature for planting new bean seeds is near 77 degrees Fahrenheit. In cool climates, planting the beans indoors under a light can help encourage healthy germination and subsequent blossoming.

Lighting

• Like many garden vegetables, green beans prefer locations that provide full exposure to sunlight. Although the plants can survive in lower levels of light, they often fail to flourish and grow. These spindly vines may lack blossoms or produce only a few flowers.

Fertilizer

• Fertilizer plays an important role in providing adequate levels of soil nutrients necessary for healthy green bean growth. Too much nitrogen in the fertilizer leads to robust vines with abundant foliage. The nitrogen, however, decreases the amount of blossoms and may even delay or negate the vine's ability to produce flowers. The best time to fertilize green beans is during the seedling stage, after the first trifoliate leaf forms above the initial set of leaves. Applying a balanced fertilizer at this time will help encourage the plant's growth, without affecting its ability to flower.