While pole beans have their place in the garden, growing bush beans have a lot of benefits. They’re easy to grow, prolific producers, and don’t take up much space making them perfect for beginning gardeners, especially those with limited space.
Domesticated from a wild plant known as Phaseolus vulgaris, common beans, as they are known, have been grown for thousands of years with evidence of their cultivation dating back to over 7,000 years ago.
This vining, wild plant can still be found growing in parts of Mexico and is the mother of almost every modern bean cultivar grown today.
So, when growing these easy to cultivate varieties, you are actually a part of an ancient tradition, which is pretty cool in my opinion. So, let’s cover all the basics so you can grow these productive plants in your garden.
What are bush beans?
The common bean has two types of plants: bush beans and pole beans. Unlike their climbing sisters, bush types do not need to be trellised or have any type of support structure. These types have a bushy shape and stay compact and close to the ground, only growing to 1 to 2 feet tall.
The bush type of bean produces sooner than pole types, but most are determinate varieties, meaning that their production will be for a short period of time usually ranging from 2 to 3 weeks. Pole beans, on the other hand, while they take longer to produce, are indeterminate and will produce pods over a longer period of time.
The Best Cultivars to Try
After dividing the types of beans into bush or pole, there are three distinctive types of bush beans:
- Snap Beans (aka string beans) – these varieties are what most of us know as green beans. These varieties are eaten fresh, green pods and all.
- Shelling beans – the pods of these beans are rather tough, so the beans are left to mature to a full size inside the pod, removed and eaten while still young.
- Dry beans – these varieties are allowed to mature and dry while still on the plant before they are harvested. Once dry, they can be stored in airtight containers until ready to rehydrate and eat. Shelling bean cultivars can become dried beans.
Of course, many beans can be dual purpose meaning they can be eaten when young as green beans or allowed to mature and eaten as shell beans or dried to become dry beans.
There are hundreds of varieties of beans that come in various colors from green to yellow and even purple. Let’s talk about some of my personal favorite varieties. These are all heirloom varieties that can be found at just about any of my favorite organic seed companies.
Snap Beans
Calima – one of our personal favorites, these are quickly producing, prolific, and have great flavor. This variety is perfect for eating fresh, canning, or freezing.
Blue Lake 274 – developed from a pole variety, blue lake 274 is a popular plant and the type most of us eat if we purchase commercially grown or canned green beans. The pods are 6″ long, stringless, and full of flavor.
Tendergreen – a favorite amongst gardeners, this heirloom variety has it all. They are disease-resistant, heat tolerant, and yield lots and lots of delicious, stringless beans. They are excellent fresh, frozen, or canned.
Shelling Beans and Dried Beans
Anasazi – A standard for baked beans in the northeastern United States this variety is known by several names. A pretty, mottled variety, whose texture resembles meat making it perfect for baking.
Black Turtle – An incredibly flavorful black bean is a favorite to put in my black bean and corn salsa. It’s also fantastic for soups and stews. This hardy variety takes about 95 days to grow to maturity, but it’s worth the wait. It’s a hardy variety that is heat resistant.
Dragon’s Tongue – A dual-purpose variety, this flavorful bean can be eaten fresh as a green bean, shelled or dried. The plants are very compact but very prolific making them a favorite among backyard gardeners.
Growing Bush Beans Successfully
Bush beans are easier to cultivate than their pole varieties and most varieties will produce as early as 50 days, with 60 days being the average. While they are easy to grow, even for beginning gardeners, having the right conditions will set you up for success.
When to Plant
Bush beans do not respond well to transplanting, which means that they will do best when they are directly sown into the vegetable garden. That being said, some varieties thrive in container gardens as long as the container has a minimum depth of 8 inches.
All varieties are warm-season plants and not at all frost-hardy. This means the growing season is after the danger of frost has passed. They do best in air temperatures between 65°F and 85°F. This could be as early as April in some southern gardening zones and as late as June for our northern gardeners. If you’re having a particularly cool spring, it’s best to wait before sowing.
One of the most important considerations when planting is to make sure the soil is warm enough. Seeds germinate best in soil temperatures between 70-80°F and planting in soil that is too cool will likely result in rot.
I recommend checking the temperature of your soil with a soil thermometer before you plant if you’re unsure. If the soil isn’t warm enough, you can warm soil more quickly by covering the area with black plastic or landscaping fabric.
Selecting a Site
While they can tolerate some shade, bush bean plants produce best when planted in full sun. The ideal site will have full sun, well-draining clay loam soil with a neutral to slightly acidic pH of 6.0-7.0.
The soil should be moderately fertile and the plants thrive in organic matter. Before planting work in some well-decomposed compost into the soil about 6 inches deep. They do not require any fertilizer, just moderately fertile soil with compost worked in before planting will do the trick.
If you’ve previously grown beans in the site you’re considering, be sure it has been four years since the previous planting. Beans do well planted with corn, cucumber, and strawberries, but shouldn’t be planted near onions.
Planting Bush Beans
Plants require good ventilation to avoid mold and mildew growth, so be sure to double-check the recommended spacing on the seed packet, but in general plant seeds at a depth of 1 to 2 inches, spaced 4 inches apart in rows spaced 18-24 inches apart.
My favorite way to sow is to make holes in the soil surface with a finger, or another tool, that are about 1 1/2 inches deep and spaced accordingly. Simply plop the seeds with the eye of the bean facing downward into the prepared holes and gently cover them with soil.
Once planted, water the planting area deeply with a gentle spray of water. Be sure to regularly water until the seedlings sprout keeping the area adequately moist. But, do not overwater as wet soils are known to cause rot and disease issues amongst bean varieties.
To control weeds and maintain moisture, it is recommended to mulch heavily with straw or other natural mulching material about 4 inches deep around the plants.
Since most bush beans are a determinate type of plant, they are excellent for succession planting. You can continue planting every 1-2 weeks throughout the summer up until you have roughly 60 days left before your first expected frost for a continuous harvest throughout the season.
Maintenance
Once sprouted, most varieties are moderately drought resistant, however, they will not flower if they aren’t regularly watered. Water beans any time the top layer of soil has begun to dry out. When watering, water at the base and avoid watering top-down and spraying the leaves as this can promote fungal and mildew growth.
As previously mentioned most beans will not require any fertilizer. However, if the leaves of starts begin to yellow, they are deficient in nitrogen. You can fertilize these starts with fish emulsion to improve the nitrogen levels. Otherwise, they will not require any fertilization.
Dealing with Disease and Pests
Like all plants, beans have their share of disease and pest problems. Combatting these issues is imperative to successful growth and harvest. It is important to check your plants regularly for any issues they may encounter over the season.
Common Pests
Aphids
We deal with aphids trying to eat up our pole beans more than our bush bean varieties, but they can still be a huge problem.
These insects will suck the juices out of leaves which stunts, or completely stops, growth. However, controlling aphids isn’t too difficult as long as you catch it before it becomes too big of a problem. Most of the time simply spraying the plants with a soapy solution, or following these other aphid control suggestions will do the trick.
Bean Leaf Beetle
The bean leaf beetle is common here in the midwest and thrives in areas with poorly draining soil. Like the aphid, these insects are usually found feeding on the underside of leaves and will leave holes in the leaves. However, they occasionally will chew on the bean pods.
These insects can be yellow-orange or red with black markings. The tell-tale sign of a bean leaf beetle is the triangular-shaped black spot on the top of their wing covers. These insects can be picked off and placed in soapy water to destroy.
Japanese Beetle
The bane of every gardener’s existence is the Japanese beetle. These iridescent greenish beetles eat darn near everything in the vegetable garden, including bean plants.
While they don’t live very long, they feed on plants in groups making the damage severe. They skeletonize plants and can be incredibly difficult to keep under control. I have some suggestions on controlling Japanese beetles here. One of the most effective ways would be to put row covers on your plants prior to their most prolific feeding period which is mid-to-late May in the Southern United States and mid-to-late June in the Northern United States.
Mexican Bean Beetle
Similar in appearance to a ladybug, these beetles will decimate your plants. The tell-tale sign of these insects is the color of their head is the same as their body.
You can hand-pick off the Mexican bean beetles and submerge them in soapy water to destroy them.
Common Diseases
Most diseases plaguing beans are fungal diseases due to improper growing conditions. The exception is Bean Common Mosaic Virus which is generally a seed-borne issue. Growing varieties that are resistant to this virus is your best bet.
As far as fungal issues, most beans are plagued with anthracnose which is common in cool, moist growing conditions. The common signs are red, purple, or black leaf veins along with reddish-brown spots on stems and leaves. These plants need immediately and completely removed and destroyed. Don’t compost infected plants. Once removed, disinfect any gardening tools that touched the plants to avoid spreading.
The other common fungal issue is bean rust which is common in humid, overcast conditions where beans don’t receive adequate sunlight. With this disease, leaves will have yellow spots that eventually turn rust-colored. Unless it is a particularly bad infection, diseased sections of plants can be pruned and destroyed. If it is a bad infection, remove the entire plant and destroy it.
Powdery mildew plagues a variety of plants and beans are no exception. If you see a white fungus on your plant, it’s likely powdery mildew. The fungus will cause white mold on your plants and can be spread easily to other plants by the wind.
This mildew thrives in warm, dry conditions. Prevention is key with this disease. You can help prevent it by making sure plants have adequate ventilation. Once heavily infected, it is difficult to get rid of. If you notice it, prune the diseased sections and destroy them. If a plant is heavily infected, remove and destroy it immediately to help avoid it spreading to other plants in the garden.
All diseases can potentially overwinter and spread, so be sure to destroy all plants or sections plagued with diseases and practice crop rotation.
Harvesting
Bush beans will begin producing at an average of 60 days and produce for about 2 weeks with regular picking. Typically once beans begin to flower it will be 1 to 2 weeks before harvest time. However, this will depend on the type of bean you’re growing.
Regardless of the variety, you’ll gently remove the beans that are ready by snapping them off of the plant where they are attached. Make sure to harvest beans after any morning dew has subsided to reduce the chance of bean bacterial blight.
For snap beans pick fresh beans when the pods are crisp and easy to snap. Usually, they should be about the width of a pencil when harvested. Too thin and they won’t have any flavor, too swollen and they will be tough and a little unpalatable. However, if they’re on the plant too long, they can still make good shelling or dried beans.
Shelling beans should be harvested when the pods begin to swell and fill out with the developing beans inside. Once the beans are visibly evident, they can be harvested, removed from the pod, and eaten fresh. These beans can also be left to dry at this point.
Dried beans are left on the plant until they’ve reached full maturity. These varieties often require threshing to remove the pod material from around the enclosed beans. When growing these types it is important to provide adequate ventilation and dry conditions. If you’re having a particularly wet harvest season, remove the plants from the ground once the beans have reached full maturity and hang them upside down indoors to allow the plants to dry.
Regardless of which variety you choose, growing bush beans is an easy task for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike. You’ll be sure to have plenty of beans for fresh eating, and if you get a good crop you can preserve them by canning or freezing to eat all winter long.
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