How to Grow Beans: A Complete Guide and Growing Tips

How to Grow Beans in a Garden

Before planting, take a little time to plan your garden. Ensure you have adequate space -certain bean varieties require staking or a trellis, while others grow into small bushes.

Dig Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser into the soil, sow beans and water in well. Depending on the bean variety, beans should be planted around 7 to 10 cm apart and sown 25mm deep.

Apply a soluble plant food, such as Yates Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food when flowering starts. This is a fast acting fertiliser that’s boosted with extra potassium to encourage lots of flowers and beans.

How to Grow Beans in a Pot

Choose a pot or trough that’s at least 50cm and choose a dwarf variety to plant (don’t choose climbing or broad beans). Try ‘Hawkesbury Wonder’ or ‘Gourmet’s Delight’.

Fill pot with a quality mix, like Yates Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter. Sow beans and water in well.

Growing Tips

Beans come in a number of varieties, but are largely categorised into two types: dwarf or climbing. Climbing beans need room to spread, so will need to be planted out in the garden. If you don’t have the space, look for dwarf varieties – they’re perfect for large pots.

The great thing about beans is that they are part of the legume family and can capture nitrogen from the atmosphere, so when your plants are done for the season, dig them out and add to the compost heap or dig them into the garden bed.

Whiteflies are a common pest of beans. They’re small, sap-sucking insects that fly away quickly when disturbed. Treat them with Baythroid Advanced Garden Pest Insect Killer Ready to Use Spray. Spray the foliage thoroughly, including the undersides. Repeat spray as required.