Do you love the crisp sweet crunch of young peas and beans? These easy-to-grow crops are perfect for all gardeners in small urban spaces. In pots, plots or garden beds!
How do you get the highest yield from your peas and beans, especially if you have limited space?
These are tips I use to grow healthy pea and bean plants that produce an abundant harvest. I hope they help you too.
3 Tips for Growing Peas and Beans
1. Healthy Soil and Fertilising
- Peas and beans both prefer well drained, moist soils, with plenty of organic matter and a soil pH 6.0-7.5.
- You can make your own potting mix like I do, or improve your soil with compost and worm castings if you have them. I also add minerals and mulch. Click here for tips on preparing your soil for planting.
- Every couple of weeks apply a liquid fertiliser such as seaweed, fish emulsion or diluted worm casting concentrate to boost growth.
Apply seaweed when planting seedlings to avoid transplant shock.
2. Get your Timing Right
- Choose varieties suited to your season and climate. I’m lucky to be able to grow beans all year round in my subtropical climate. I just choose my varieties carefully for the season – climbing snake beans over summer; dwarf and runner beans for the rest of the year. So timing is important when selecting your seeds or seedling varieties – learn what will grow when.
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- Peas are another story. Sadly, I can only grow these through the cooler months, unless I raise seeds as microgreens. This is one way to extend your season to grow pea shoots for longer. A brilliant way to benefit from the extra nutrients too.
Quick growing pea shoot microgreens
- Sow early morning or late afternoon if in a warm/hot climate to avoid heat stress for seedlings.
- Plant in the new moon phase for faster seed germination and strong growth. This is also the best time to apply liquid fertilizers as you’ll see much quicker results. Root development and leaf growth comes before flowers and pods, so use this timing to your advantage!
3. Succession and Companion Planting
- Succession Planting – To get a continuous supply of peas and beans, you need to succession plant or “sow little, and often.” Every couple of weeks I sow more peas or beans, so I stagger the planting – and the harvest.
French climbing beans growing up a bamboo trellis
- When choosing your peas or beans, dwarf or bush varieties will usually produce flowers and pods quicker than climbing peas or runner/pole beans. If you sow some dwarf seeds/seedlings first, you’ll enjoy a fast harvest, while the climbing varieties take longer to produce flowers and pods. While climbers are slow out of the starting gates, they’ll go the distance and produce a harvest over a longer period!
- Companion planting – To improve pollination of pea and bean crops, there’s a simple principle you can apply. Plant flowers nearby. To attract pollinators, lease out some of your precious garden ‘real estate’ to flower ‘tenants’. They will ‘pay’ you in more peas and beans! As the bees visit the flowers for a free feed, they’ll also stop by and pollinate these crops. Win-win!
Bee pollinating a green bean flower
How to Grow Guides
For tutorials with lots of inspiring vertical structures and tips, see my growing guides:
Easy Guide to Growing Perfect Peas – An easy step by step guide with everything you need to know to grow, maintain and harvest peas + delicious recipe ideas.
Jack and the Beanstalk Theme Garden – Tutorial tips for growing beans and a themed garden for children.
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Happy gardening until next month. Anne
Beans can’t wait
[…] we come to plants that produce pods – specifically, different varieties of beans and peas. These plants actually ‘give back’ to your soil by fixing nitrogen, so they add value […]