Planning a Vegetable Garden

Posts Tagged ‘Snap Bush Beans’

Planting string beans is an enjoyable task.  The seeds are large and the beans grow bountifully!  So they are easy to sow, fun to grow and easy to harvest as well.

So let’s talk about planting and growing string beans (also known as snap beans).

Types of String Beans

First, there are two different styles of string beans — those plants that grow like a bush, and those that grow up a pole.  Both are great to eat, so which type you choose may depend on the space you have available.

The bush-style beans generally grow to somewhere around 18 inches tall, give or take a couple inches.  The pole beans can easily grow 6 feet tall if given the room.

I’ve planted both kinds, and for my personal growing pleasure like the bush-style better.  They don’t produce the string beans over as long a time period as the pole-style beans, but rather have more of a concentrated harvest.

As far as taste goes, I find it has to do more with the variety you choose, rather than pole or bush.

Planting String Beans

Planting string beans is a joy for me — I can actually see the seeds without squinting!  The seeds are large and easy to handle.

You can start your beans inside if you live in a very short summer climate, but I find it just as easy to plant the seeds directly in the garden.  Wait until the soil is at least 65 degrees before sowing the seeds.

Sow the string bean seeds about 1″ deep.  For bush beans, I sow mine closely – 3 inches apart.  For pole beans, I prefer 5″ apart, and a stake for each plant.

Should you use a bean innoculant?   I generally don’t (mainly because I tend to forget it), but I do add a soil activator to the soil before I get it ready to plant.  So if your soil is poor or you have found harvests skimpy in the past, a bean innoculant will probably help you.

Growing String Beans

Growing string beans is easy; in general, they are trouble-free if you have a warm dry climate.  If your climate is humid (like mine usually is), you might want to watch out for fungal and/or rust infections.  Spacing your plants out a little farther can help with the air circulation, to help stave off the fungus.

String beans like warmth, but are fairly tolerant of cooler weather.  They don’t particularly like very hot weather, though (95+ degrees).  In fact, if you live in a hot (and especially hot and humid) climate, I suggest growing string beans on the “shoulder” seasons, so as to avoid the worst Summer heat.

Enjoy planting and growing your string beans!