When to pick Bush Beans?

platys · June 23, 2011

I have about 6 bush bean plants (most are Blue Lake, and one is a Burpee of some sort), and they've started setting pods. When do I pick them? If I pick some of the bigger ones now, will they keep bearing through the summer? Or is it a one time thing?

tam91 · June 23, 2011

Pick them whenever they're the size you want to eat, and you're hungry. But don't let them get huge. They will keep bearing a bit, but they're more like a determinate tomato - you get a big crop, and they make some more, but probably not all summer. That's why I like pole beans - they keep going.

**nctomatoman** · June 23, 2011

Just six plants?!?! I can't get through a season without 5-20 foot rows of beans so we can eat them until they come out of our ears! Room-constrained, I suspect.....

Pick them when they are what you are looking for as to length - usually 4 inches minimum for good quality, but before they get lumpy. Yes, if you keep them picked, they keep flowering - if you can avoid disease, pests, bugs, you can keep them going until frost. It may depend upon the variety, but I've kept them producing well for an entire season. Need to keep your hands off them when the plants are wet - spreads disease.

This year I am finally growing Speculator from Stokes - been reading about it in their catalog for many years....excellent bean!

buenaventura43 · June 23, 2011

I pick them up when the diameter is the same with pencil

kath · June 23, 2011

The first flush of beans is usually the largest and most varieties will give you at least another set before tiring out. Some I've tried were finished in as little as 3 weeks. We plant bush beans in succession, at least every month, so we can rip out the ones that are tired/diseased and have beans all summer/fall. Different varieties of beans have different lengths and widths, so what tastes best to you size-wise for a particular variety may vary from one to the next. Resistance to disease is a plus with some of them. Lots of different ones to try. Mmm...love beans.

platys · June 23, 2011

Ooh, I have two beans that are lumpy. Guess we're having green beans for dinner tomorrow night. Of course, it'll be like four beans each, maximum.

I'll just have to take over more of the little bit of grass we have left next year. Our yard is way too shady.

**nctomatoman** · June 23, 2011

You can plant Bush Beans in pots and they do very well - use a 5 or 10 gallon pot, plant them 3-4 inches apart - you can put a lot of beans in a pot and they will give you a really good yield....you can ensure they are in a good sunny location.

platys · June 23, 2011

The beans I have now are all in various containers - mainly, I tucked them in with the peppers I had, and any place I could fit, like at the end of the radishes (which never actually made radishes, but the flowers were pretty). But, they aren't 3 to 4 inches close... hrm, maybe I could find some scraggler plants around here.

ContainerTed · June 24, 2011

This year in an 80 foot row, I planted Peanut, Blue Lake, and White Half Runner beans. We like only the "green" beans, so the Peanut Beans come out early. We've gotten about two and a half bushels so far from one "picking" of the entire row. I planted them with two parallel "rows" of beans - one down each side of the 20 inch wide tilled area, sort of like this:

---------------

---------------

The peanut beans look like they're totally done. The Blue Lakes will have another yield that will be maybe half of the first batch picked. The White Half Runners were planted with the two rows on the outside edges of the tilled area and then 3 weeks later another row down the middle. I got about 3/4 of a bushel the first time thru and left more immature beans than the mature beans picked.

I expect to get another bushel and a half before the end of the season. The pressure canner has been "jobbing out" the past two weeks.

tam91 · June 24, 2011

If you're short on space, plant pole beans next year. You get so many more beans per plant, they bear all summer, plus you don't wreck your back picking them. I think they taste a little better besides.

You do need some sort of support, but if you don't want to do it "right" with rows and trellises, you can just put some poles in a teepee shape and tie them together at the top.

Ruth_10 · June 28, 2011

You will have to ask the deer how our beans taste.

SmartAlex · June 28, 2011

If you are nice to your plants (don't tear them up when you pick and keep them watered through hot dry spells) the Blue Lake will rally in late August and produce a second crop. After their first heavy crop, they will trail off, and then one day, you will look and it will be time to start picking beans again.

platys · June 28, 2011

I had my first beans last night. They were good. I had to share them with my husband.. all 9 of them.

June 23, 2011	#1
platys Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2010 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 176	When to pick Bush Beans? I have about 6 bush bean plants (most are Blue Lake, and one is a Burpee of some sort), and they've started setting pods. When do I pick them? If I pick some of the bigger ones now, will they keep bearing through the summer? Or is it a one time thing?

June 23, 2011	#2
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Pick them whenever they're the size you want to eat, and you're hungry. But don't let them get huge. They will keep bearing a bit, but they're more like a determinate tomato - you get a big crop, and they make some more, but probably not all summer. That's why I like pole beans - they keep going. __________________ Tracy

June 23, 2011	#3
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Just six plants?!?! I can't get through a season without 5-20 foot rows of beans so we can eat them until they come out of our ears! Room-constrained, I suspect..... Pick them when they are what you are looking for as to length - usually 4 inches minimum for good quality, but before they get lumpy. Yes, if you keep them picked, they keep flowering - if you can avoid disease, pests, bugs, you can keep them going until frost. It may depend upon the variety, but I've kept them producing well for an entire season. Need to keep your hands off them when the plants are wet - spreads disease. This year I am finally growing Speculator from Stokes - been reading about it in their catalog for many years....excellent bean! __________________ Craig

June 23, 2011	#7
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	You can plant Bush Beans in pots and they do very well - use a 5 or 10 gallon pot, plant them 3-4 inches apart - you can put a lot of beans in a pot and they will give you a really good yield....you can ensure they are in a good sunny location. __________________ Craig

June 24, 2011	#9
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	This year in an 80 foot row, I planted Peanut, Blue Lake, and White Half Runner beans. We like only the "green" beans, so the Peanut Beans come out early. We've gotten about two and a half bushels so far from one "picking" of the entire row. I planted them with two parallel "rows" of beans - one down each side of the 20 inch wide tilled area, sort of like this: --------------- --------------- The peanut beans look like they're totally done. The Blue Lakes will have another yield that will be maybe half of the first batch picked. The White Half Runners were planted with the two rows on the outside edges of the tilled area and then 3 weeks later another row down the middle. I got about 3/4 of a bushel the first time thru and left more immature beans than the mature beans picked. I expect to get another bushel and a half before the end of the season. The pressure canner has been "jobbing out" the past two weeks. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

June 23, 2011	#4
buenaventura43 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Rockland,NY Posts: 10	I pick them up when the diameter is the same with pencil

June 23, 2011	#5
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	The first flush of beans is usually the largest and most varieties will give you at least another set before tiring out. Some I've tried were finished in as little as 3 weeks. We plant bush beans in succession, at least every month, so we can rip out the ones that are tired/diseased and have beans all summer/fall. Different varieties of beans have different lengths and widths, so what tastes best to you size-wise for a particular variety may vary from one to the next. Resistance to disease is a plus with some of them. Lots of different ones to try. Mmm...love beans.

June 28, 2011	#11
Ruth_10 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MO z6a near St. Louis Posts: 1,349	You will have to ask the deer how our beans taste. __________________ --Ruth Some say the glass half-full. Others say the glass is half-empty. To an engineer, it’s twice as big as it needs to be.

June 28, 2011	#12
SmartAlex Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Western NY Posts: 38	If you are nice to your plants (don't tear them up when you pick and keep them watered through hot dry spells) the Blue Lake will rally in late August and produce a second crop. After their first heavy crop, they will trail off, and then one day, you will look and it will be time to start picking beans again.