by Jennifer Poindexter
Do you have a favorite vegetable to grow in your garden? Green beans are my all-time favorite. I love how easy they are to grow, I love harvesting them, and I love the way fresh green beans taste. If you’ve ever tried growing green beans and didn’t find much success, that’s okay. There are a few common mistakes many gardeners make when growing this crop.
I’m going to walk you through each of the mistakes and how you can avoid them when growing green beans in your garden. Here’s what you should know.
1. Inadequate Watering
When you look at green beans, you might assume they should be watered lightly. This is a misconception.
In fact, green beans do best when watered deeply. Ensuring the crop receives enough water is vital to avoiding this mistake.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
When watering green beans, water them fewer days of the week for a longer period. This will ensure water reaches the roots, but it will also encourage a deeper root system.
This will, in turn, create stronger and healthier plants. Be sure to water your green beans earlier in the day to give them time to dry before the temperatures drop at night.
If not, the combination of cooler air and moisture is a perfect breeding ground for fungal disease to form on your beans.
Learn more. Watering Tips
2. The Soil Wasn’t Ideal
Many times, the mistake with green beans is that they’re planted where the soil isn’t the best. I’ve had this happen, too.
If you plant in a larger grow space, it can be hard to get the soil up to par. However, you should keep working at it until the green beans are growing in rich, well-draining soil.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
You should amend your soil with compost prior to planting green beans. This will put nutrients into the ground, help the soil become aerated, and encourage proper drainage.
It’s important the soil helps the green beans receive moisture without allowing them to remain in a consistently soggy state.
Learn more. Watering Tips
3. The Green Beans Were Planted Too Early
My husband is one of those gardeners that as soon as the weather gets sunnier and warmer, he’s ready to begin planting everything.
I have to be the one to tell him to pump the breaks. If not, we’ll waste many plants. Green beans are no exception. Plant them at the right time if you want thriving plants.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
Green beans should be planted after all threat of frost is over. The soil must be at approximately 60-degrees Fahrenheit for germination to occur.
Wait until the temperatures warm up, for good, before starting this plant. You’ll be glad you waited when they are able to thrive without fighting frost and cold temperatures.
Learn more: How to Find Your USDA Garden Zone
4. The Wrong Variety of Bean
There are multiple varieties of beans. They come in different colors, some beans have a waxy coating on the outside, and some beans will grow differently.
You must look at your grow space and see which variety would work best in your setting. There are some beans that run and others that are a bush variety. Different gardening methods handle different varieties of green beans better.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
I use a variety of gardening methods. My personal preference is to grow bush beans. I like their taste, and I think they’re easier to care for.
However, many people enjoy beans that grow up because they’re easier to pick. You can also combine them with other crops, such as corn, to save space in the garden.
Look at your grow space and see which type of bean will work for you. Keep in mind, running varieties, should be given a trellis to keep them from taking over your garden.
5. Pests and Diseases Were Ignored
Pests are sneaky. They can come into your garden, and you can’t see what’s wrong until it’s too late. This is why it’s important to take a walk through your garden each night.
Not only does it do you good to have time to catch your breath, but it also gives you an opportunity to see what’s taking place in your grow space. If you can catch pests and disease early, your garden should do much better.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
Most diseases which impact green beans are fungal. Therefore, you should apply a fungicide to your crop if you see any signs of disease developing.
You should also ensure the plants aren’t being overwatered and have been provided adequate spacing, as this helps with airflow.
Most pests, which threaten green beans, can be treated with an insecticide. If you see holes in your plants, signs that your plants are being fed upon, or witness a pest on your plant, treat them immediately.
6. The Beans Were Planted at the Wrong Depth
Most people grow green beans by direct sowing them into the garden. They grow rather quickly, so most gardeners don’t find it necessary to start them indoors.
With this in mind, the seeds must be planted at the right depth, or they may not sprout. Understanding the appropriate depths for each time of year is vital to growing green beans.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
During the spring, green bean seeds should be planted one inch beneath the soil. As the season wears on, the soil should become warmer and easier for the seeds to navigate.
Therefore, during the summer months, they can be sown as deep as two inches into the ground. If the seeds are planted at a shallow depth, they might dry out and fail to germinate.
However, if you plant them at too great a depth, they might struggle to reach the surface and rot before they get there.
7. The Beans Weren’t Fed
Green beans love nitrogen. This can prove problematic because most soil is deficient in nitrogen. This is because all plants require it to some extent.
Therefore, if you don’t feed your green beans throughout the grow season, they may not thrive. This is a mistake which can stop a harvest in its tracks.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
Green beans should be fertilized once per month. If the plants are being watered adequately, yet the foliage of the plants are still turning yellow, they need more food.
Keep a close eye on your green bean plants to know if and when they need more fertilizer applied to them, so they can thrive in your garden.
Learn more. Fertilizing options.
8. The Beans Weren’t Spaced Properly
Green beans can handle being planted close together. The issue is when they are too close. This leads to airflow problems which leads to disease.
Understand the spacing green bean plants need to ensure they thrive under your care.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
Green beans should have three feet between rows. Bush varieties can be planted with approximately a foot of space between plants. They can be planted closer if you’re using the square foot gardening method.
You may choose to use the same spacing between running green beans. It will depend upon how you stake them and how it fits in your garden. Keep in mind, running varieties will need a trellis to keep them off the ground.
9. The Wrong Grow Space
Green beans grow well in most locations. They need warmth and sunlight to be happy. Yet, there are a few places they shouldn’t be grown in your garden.
Understand which plants green beans thrive around and which they don’t to avoid this mistake that could cost you your crop.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
This mistake is easy to avoid. In general, green beans grow well with other plants. The exception is that green beans shouldn’t be planted near onions or garlic.
You also shouldn’t plant them where onions and garlic once grew. This family of plants will stunt the bean plants’ growth because of a substance they produce in the soil. It will also stop the beans from receiving nitrogen from the soil.
10. Picked at the Wrong Time
This mistake is a matter of opinion to some people, but it does need to be mentioned for those who are new to raising green beans.
This vegetable can be harvested at different times. Finding the time that’s right for you is important for you to get the most out of your harvest.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
Green beans are ready to be harvested once the pods have formed and there are beans inside. Some people prefer to pick their beans while they’re young and tender.
However, there are some people who like to wait until the beans have fully formed inside the pod. The skins are tougher at this point.
In my area, they refer to this style of bean as a “shelly.” Many people enjoy them in soups. This boils down to personal preference, but definitely take the time to figure out when is the right time for you to harvest your crop.
These are the mistakes many gardeners make when growing bean plants. Green bean plants are extremely forgiving.
However, by understanding some of the potential hurdles you could face, it might help you have a better growing experience because you’ll be alert to most potential threats or issues. Hopefully this insight will help you have a thriving green bean harvest in your garden.
More About Growing Green Beans
https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/growing-beans
https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/library/gardening/green-beans/
https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C1006&title=Home%20Garden%20Green%20Beans
My green beans look great, have plenty of blossoms, but no beans are forming. Why are the blossoms dropping?
My green beans seem to be healthy and very green, but not beans. I tried using a high phosphorus
fertilizer, no luck… They are planted in a raised garden and they grew well last year… What can I do?
do not over fertilise beans. they provide their own nitrogen .