RHS Growing Guides
How to grow beans for drying
Our detailed growing guide will help you with each step in successfully growing Beans for drying.
Getting Started
With beans grown for drying, the pods are allowed to fully ripen and dry out on the plant, then the beans can be stored for use over winter in stews, soups, casseroles and salads. Borlotti beans are a popular choice, and some runner and French beans can also be grown this way.
Start harvesting mature beans from mid-summer onwards, once the pods dry out
Month by Month
Jobs to do now
| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | |
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| Harvest |
Choosing
Most beans grown for drying are climbers, as these are more productive. Dwarf varieties can be used too, but produce smaller crops. They also don’t dry as well on the plant, as the pods often touch the ground, where they can get damp and rot, so dwarf varieties are best picked and dried indoors.
Borlotti beans are the best-known beans for drying, but most runner and French beans can be grown in this way, although certain varieties are particularly suitable. Different varieties produce dried beans of various colours, including white, brown and purple. Other beans specifically for drying include the striking black and white ‘Yin Yang’ beans. You’ll find an array of different beans growing in the veg areas of the RHS gardens over the summer months, so do visit to compare varieties and pick up growing tips.
What and where to buy
You can buy suitable bean seeds in garden centres and from online retailers. Many also sell young runner and French bean plants in spring and early summer, which are useful if you only want to grow a few.
Recommended Varieties
An Italian variety, available as a climber or dwarf, with attractive marbled red pods and mottled red seeds.
A climbing variety – pods can be picked when green as runner beans or left to mature, to be stored as dry beans.
A dwarf variety with attractive half-black, half-white beans in a green pod. Image © Shutterstock
Preparing the Ground
Choose a warm, open, sunny growing site, ideally with light, free-draining soil. Weed thoroughly, then fork in lots of home-made garden compost or well-rotted manure – at least two bucketfuls per square metre/yard. Ideally do this a few weeks ahead of sowing or planting out, to allow the ground to settle. Alternatively, if you're practising no-dig, mulch the soil ahead of sowing or planting directly into the mulch.
Putting up supports
To make A-frame supports, insert two rows of 2.5m (8ft) tall bamboo canes 15–30cm (6–12in) apart. Slope the canes towards each other and tie each pair near the top, then add a horizontal cane along the top as a crossbar to link them all together and increase stability. Space rows of supports 45–60cm (18in–2ft) apart.
For X-frames, slope the canes at a sharper angle so they cross in the middle. Tie them at the centre, and add a horizontal cane at this point for stability. An X-frame makes picking easier as the beans are within reach and cropping is usually better, but the structure is less strong.
To make a wigwam, arrange four or five canes or hazel poles in a circle, spacing them 15–30cm (6–12in) apart at the base. Then tie the tops together.
Make sure you build tall, sturdy supports, as climbing beans quickly grow into large, heavy plants
Sowing
When growing beans for drying, rather than for eating the young pods, a longer growing season is required, as the pods need time to mature fully. So it’s best to sow early, which usually means sowing indoors, especially in colder regions. In areas that usually have warm spring weather, you can also sow outdoors, after the last frost.
Sowing indoors
From mid-April to May, get beans off to an early start by sowing into small pots or trays of deep modules filled with moist peat-free multi-purpose compost. Sow one bean into the centre of each, 5cm (2in) deep. Keep them on a sunny windowsill, in a propagator or in a greenhouse at over 12°C (54°F). For more sowing tips, see our guides below.
Bean seedlings will grow rapidly and need watering regularly. The young plants can be transplanted outside once there is no danger of frost in your area, usually in late May or early June – see Planting, below.
Sowing outdoors
Bean seeds need warmth to germinate, so wait until your soil has reached 12°C (54°F) – usually by mid-May in the south of the UK and early June in the north. Sow seeds 5cm (2in) deep with one or two at the base of each bamboo cane, later thinning to one seedling per cane, and protect from slugs and snails.
With dwarf beans, sow seeds 10cm (4in) apart, in rows 45cm (18in) apart. Sow a few extra at the end of the rows to fill any gaps if some seeds don’t germinate, and thin those that do to 30cm (1ft) once seedlings are growing well. Consider sowing dwarf beans through plastic-free weed-suppressing membrane to reduce the need for weeding and prevent the pods being damaged by contact with the soil.
Planting
Plant bean seedlings outdoors in early summer, once they’re 10–15cm tall
Plant Care
Watering
Beans are thirsty plants, so water regularly in dry weather, especially when they’re in flower and forming pods. Use rainwater from a butt whenever possible, and in hot weather water at cooler times of the day so the moisture doesn’t evaporate. For more water-saving tips, see our guides below.
Mulching
Spread a thick mulch of home-made garden compost or well-rotted manure around your bean plants to help hold moisture in the soil, reduce the need to water, and deter weed germination.
Pruning and Training
Tie in any stems that come loose from the supports in windy weather. Once the plants reach the top of their supports, cut off any additional growth. This should encourage side-shoots lower down, keep the crop within reach and help to stop the plants becoming top-heavy.
Harvesting
Once you’ve gathered in your pods, remove the individual beans and let them dry fully before storing
Avoid picking pods after rain, so the beans are as dry as possible, and harvest the last of your crop before the first frost. If any pods aren’t fully mature by this point, pick, shell and freeze the almost mature beans and use them as you would use dried ones.
Once harvesting has finished, cut plants down to the base and compost them. However, as legumes (peas, beans and related plants) fix nitrogen from the air at their roots, leave these in the ground to boost soil nitrogen levels.
Problems
These beans are easy to grow from seed, but must be kept indoors until after the last frost. If a late cold snap is forecast, cover your plants overnight with cloches or plastic-free fleece. Young plants are vulnerable to slugs and snails, and watch for black aphids on the shoot tips and under leaves. For more on spotting and tackling these and other issues, see Common problems, below.
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