How do I grow beans?

Beans are productive out of proportion to the space they take, because they grow vertically. The two things that determine the crop are water at flowering time and how often you pick. A plant with mature pods on it stops flowering; one picked every few days keeps going for months.

What you'll need

• Bean seed (runner or climbing French)
• Canes or a bean frame
• String
• Compost or well-rotted manure
• Pots for indoor sowing (optional)

Step by step

1. Build a sturdy support before sowing.A double row of canes tied at the top, or a wigwam. Beans in full leaf catch a lot of wind — flimsy supports collapse in August.
2. Enrich the soil at the base with compost or well-rotted manure.Beans are hungry and need consistent moisture. Organic matter provides both.
3. Sow indoors in pots in April, or direct outdoors from late May.Beans are frost-tender and rot in cold wet soil. Sowing too early gains nothing.
4. Plant one or two plants per cane, about 15cm from the base.Guide the first shoots onto the cane — after that they twine themselves.
5. Water generously and consistently, especially once flowering starts.Water shortage at flowering is the main cause of flowers dropping without setting pods.
6. Mulch the base to hold moisture.Beans dislike drying out, and a mulch reduces watering considerably.
7. Pinch out the growing tips when they reach the top of the support.It stops them growing into an unmanageable tangle and pushes energy into pods.
8. Pick every two or three days once they start.This is the key to a long harvest. Any pod left to mature tells the plant its job is done.

Tips

• Runner bean flowers failing to set is usually dryness at the root, or very hot dry weather. Watering and misting the flowers in a heatwave both help.
• Climbing French beans are more tolerant of hot weather than runner beans and have a more delicate texture.
• A late sowing in early July gives a crop into autumn once the main plants are tiring.
• Beans fix nitrogen — cut the plants off at ground level at the end of the season and leave the roots in the soil.

Common mistakes

• Flimsy supports — A fully grown bean row is heavy and catches wind. Collapsed supports in late summer are a common and avoidable failure.
• Sowing too early — Beans are frost-tender and seed rots in cold wet soil. Late May direct is reliable.
• Letting pods mature on the plant — It signals the plant to stop flowering and ends the harvest weeks early.
• Inconsistent watering at flowering — It's the main cause of flowers dropping without setting pods.

Questions people ask