Time to plant beans in many parts of the Southwest. Even if you have no interest in a “vegetable garden,” you should still consider planting some beans, and I discussed my seven reasons for growing beans last week.

What Type of Beans?

Honestly, bean categories are confusing.

Beans grown as vegetables can be divided by growth habit:
climbing,
pole,
semi-pole,
bush
Beans can be divided by the stage of growth when eaten
snap or green,
shell,
dry.

To top it off, some beans aren’t even called beans! For example the black-eyed pea, which is a bean not a pea, and it is eaten either as a green, edamame-style bean, or as a dry bean.

Beans Like Warmth – but not Hot

Beans are primarily a warm-weather crop and can do quite well in our high heat and low humidity. Until it gets too hot.    Bean flowers are heat sensitive.    Once it gets over 90F, only the native Southwest tepary bean will set seed. They are a wild bean found across the region and have been cultivated in the Southwest for more than 4,000 years.

Grown as a dry bean, the tepary is otherwise very “green” and sustainable in our region.    It grows well in straight desert soil, grows quickly with little extra water, and cooks quickly too. To top it off, tepary is the highest in protein and lowest in carbohydrates of all the dry beans.

Grow any of the climbing dry beans – not just the tepary – in the warm months, and the closer to last frost you get them growing the better if you live in the hot Low Desert.

Exceptions. Low and Middle Desert plant fava, garbanzo, and green beans (bush and otherwise), in autumn to harvest in spring. Protect from frost.

There Are Many Species of Beans

The Science Geek shares: There are many species of beans and not everybody can eat all of them.    Some people have violent food allergies to certain species – with kidney and soy (edamame) being the top two problematic species. More on bean hazards on Savor the Southwest.

Precise varieties for our region is covered in my book, Southwest Fruit & Vegetable Gardening, but these in general are the types of beans that do well in our low humidity. 

 adzuki (Vigna angularis).
black-eyed pea (Vigna unguiculata), also called cowpeas.
bush green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), also come in yellow.
bush dry bean, includes pinto and black (Phaseolus vulgaris).
edamame (Glycine max), soy beans grown to be eaten green.
fava (Vicia faba), also called broad beans.
garbanzo (Cicer arietinum), also called chickpeas, both green and dry varieties.
hyacinth (Lablab purpureus). Must be cooked to destroy cyanide compounds.
lima (Phaseolus lunatus), also called butter beans.
long (Vigna unguiculata), also called asparagus beans.
mung (Vigna radiata) also called green gram. Not the black gram  which is (Vigna mungo)
pole green (Phaseolus vulgaris), need something to climb.
pole dry (Phaseolus vulgaris), need a trellis or fence to climb.
scarlet runner (Phaseolus coccineus), from the mountains of Mexico, this perennial bean may survive for years in cooler (but not cold) gardens, resprouting from an underground tuber each spring. In hottest and coldest zones grow as an annual.   

soy (Glycine max), also called soya. Different varieties grown for the dry bean.
tepary (Phaseolus acutifolius).

How to Grow Beans

Temperature

Soil temperature should be at least 60°F before planting beans. Air temperature is less important to the baby beans coming out of the seed – unless there is going to be a freeze – in which case trotect them with jugs of water next to them.

Soil

Soil pH should be between 6.5 and 7.2 for most bean species. This means most beans will want good garden soil or to be grown in a container. All of these beans will grow in containers. The exception is if you want to try to get your scarlet runner beans to be perennial. They will need to be in the ground.

Don’t want to fuss around with soil? Tepary beans tolerate alkaline desert soils with a pH up to 8.2. I have planted mine under the palo verde trees for years – they happily climb the trunks.  Note that the tree roots are collecting water out at the drip line – so you will have to water anything growing under the trees that offer filtered shade – like palo verde.  More about tree drip line.

Sun

Full sun to light shade. In the hotter areas, afternoon shade is good too. As mentioned above – beans can even be grown under trees. Mesquite tree shade may be too dark for good bean set.

Climbers

Tepary and pole beans are one of the Three Sisters. If you use a trellis for your climbing beans, select an area on the north side of the garden so that they won’t shade out the rest of your plants.

Water

Beans are somewhat drought-tolerant until they start flowering. Once plants start flowering, the beans should be kept evenly moist. A good soil with ample compost should do the trick.

Fertilizer

Beans work with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and get all the nitrogen they need out of the soil. Thus if you give them a high-nitrogen fertilizer you will stunt their growth. You can purchase bean inoculant to place in the soil as you plant beans, but it is not required if you have gardened in the area before or have legume trees like mesquite or acacia in your yard.

Avoid planting marigolds near beans or peas. Marigold roots contain bacteria-killing compounds, and the beans need the bacteria and fungi in the soil.

Beans in Containers

If you don’t want to tackle our beautiful desert soil and all the fun caliche, beans grow well in containers.  But they have to be large containers.  If it is a climbing bean you will need a trellis.    Select a container that is deep enough (36 to 48 inches), with good
drainage.    Do not add stones to the bottom.    You can put window screen over the hole to keep soil from falling out.

Potting soil is best for container plants. I use “cactus mix” because it drains well and works for herbs too. Select a brand with at least one fifth sand or perlite to help insure good drainage and prevent root rot.    Do not fill the container to the rim with soil, leave space for watering.    Water enough so that some comes out the bottom of the pot.    Do not let you pot sit in a saucer of water. It drowns the roots, plus serves as a breeding ground for the type of mosquitoes that can live in damp soils. If you are concerned about roots growing out of the pot, use “pot feet” under your pot.

Container gardening is easier than gardening in the ground.    It is easier to keep weeds out, and you can move containers as needed.    As the sun moves in its annual arc, you could move the pots out of excessive sun as days lengthen, then move them back to more sun after the solstice.

How to Plant

You can plant your bean seeds indoors 3 to 6 weeks prior to planting out. I don’t have enough light for them inside so I just plant outside.

Planting depth depends on the bean species. Big beans need to go deeper! In general plant the seed twice as deep as it is long. This means a large lima or scarlet runner bean goes into 1 inch-deep hole while the tiny tepary beans are planted only ¼ to ½ inch deep.

Three Sisters style growing, beans can be seeded in mounds or hills with corn and squash, four or five bean seeds to a hill. Or you can omit the corn and put a trellis or tomato cage over each hill.

When and How to Harvest

For green beans, it’s time to harvest once pods start forming―while pods are still tender. Beans should easily break in half and be easy to snap off the plant when they’re ready to harvest. Pick regularly to keep plants producing. If green beans are allowed to yellow on the plant, the plant will stop producing.

Shelling beans such as limas, garbanzos, and black-eyed peas, have been cultivated for thousands of years. No need to constantly harvest them. These plants have been selected by humans to produce a large crop of pods when left alone. (Extra water will help though.)

To harvest dry beans, allow the pods to begin to dry on the plant. Some varieties will continue to produce if you pluck these ripened pods. At the end of the season, pull up the entire plant and dry it on a bed sheet or tarp. Thresh the pods and collect the beans. Seal away from insect pests (canning jars work well) in a cool, dark area. Use the beans within the year for best nutrition and flavor.

Try Some!

However you plant them, in pots or in the ground, it sure is wonderful to have some home-grown, delicious, fresh summer vegetables to enjoy.

More summer vegetables that are easy to grow and look pretty in these pages soon. Be sure to sign up for my free Substack newsletter for notes to help you succeed with your garden goals.

More Vegetable Garden Help

May I recommend my book?  The Southwest Fruit & Vegetable Guide offers not just growing guides but some of the latest varieties – including ones specifically for raised bed and container growing. Price is what you would pay on Amazon – only when you buy from me you get a signed copy!

From the review:

“In this updated 2nd edition of Southwest Fruit & Vegetable Gardening, you’ll find much-needed advice and practical tips on growing an edible garden, no matter which part of the southwestern US you call home.

Profits from the sale of this book go to the Arizona-based Horticulture Therapy non-profit Tierra del Sol Institute.  

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