How to Germinate Dried Lima Beans

Germinating Lima Beans Indoors

• 1

  Use a biodegradable pot such as a peat pot to start lima bean seeds indoors. This allows you to move the plants into the garden without disturbing the roots.

• 2

  Fill the pots with sterile potting soil. Sow one or two lima beans 1 inch deep in each pot.

• 3

  Water as needed to dampen the soil and then place the pots in a warm, sunny location. Check the soil often and continue to water to keep the soil moist, but not soaked.

• 4

  Watch for seedling to emerge in six to 18 days. Continue to water and thin the seedlings to one per pot when they reach 3 inches tall.

• 5

  Transplant the lima bean seedlings outdoors in the garden when soil temperatures warm.

Germinating Lima Beans Outside

• 6

  Select a planting site with full sun and rich, well-draining soil when the soil warms in the spring. Add a layer of compost to enrich the soil. Mix this well into the soil using hand-garden tools.

• 7

  Sow the lima bean 1 inch deep. Space the beans 3 to 6 inches apart in rows spaced 24 to 26 inches apart for bush-type lima beans. Space the beans 6 to 10 inches apart in rows spaced 30 to 36 apart for pole-type lima beans.

• 8

  Water the area carefully to dampen the soil without displacing the lima beans.

• 9

  Check the soil every day and water when needed to maintain moist, but not soggy soil until the lima beans germinate and seedlings appear in a week or more.