How to grow beans at home: a step-by-step guide
Beans - plant unique. It can be used both as a main dish and as a side dish. The beans are canned and added to salads. The calorie content of beans is about 90 kcal per 100 g, in green beans (asparagus) - only 23 kcal for the same amount. The culture contains vitamins B and C and is rich in keratin and zinc.
To grow beans, it is not necessary to have your own plot of land. Let's look further at how to plant beans at home and what you need for this.
Is it possible to create conditions for growing beans at home?
This is quite real. To do this, you need to purchase small containers - these can be pots, boxes, or plastic boxes.
You can grow the crop on a windowsill or balcony. Bean flowers are self-pollinating, meaning they do not require artificial pollination.
Since the root system of the vegetable is small, one bean bush will fit perfectly in one flower pot. Let's take a closer look at how to grow beans at home.
Choosing the best varieties for growing
The best varieties of green beans are suitable for growing at home.
The most precocious of them:
- Caramel. The first harvest appears within 55 days after planting. The height of the bush varies from forty to 60 cm. The pods and seeds have a juicy and pleasant taste. Caramel is an unpretentious variety. Care consists of the usual measures - timely watering, loosening the soil.
- Shahinya. The fruits of this variety are highly valued in cooking.After cooking, the beans become tender, retaining their shape and taste. The taste is sweetish and pleasant. The variety is perfect for canning and freezing. The plant is also resistant to many diseases.
- Homestead beans are early ripening varieties. The bushes reach a maximum height of 0.5 m and do not need support. The variety loves nutritious soil, so it is better to periodically feed the plant. For long-term storage of fruits, it is recommended to freeze them.
- Butter King. The fruits are tube-shaped and tender. Large pods are removed approximately 2 months after sowing. The product can be used both fresh and after heat treatment. The variety is easy to grow.
- Saxa 615. Characterized by small bushes that will look beautiful on your windowsill. The fruits are tasty, without coarse fibers. The variety does not need support or garters.
Important! If this is your first time growing beans at home, we advise you to buy several varieties at once and sow several seeds of each. This way you will understand which beans will best suit you.
What you will need
First of all, purchase seeds. Familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the variety you are interested in in advance and choose the most suitable one.
Beans grow quickly and do not require picking, so it is better to plant them immediately in pots of suitable size. Each bush will require from 3 to 5 kg of soil. The crop can be planted either in a common box or in individual containers. You can buy them at any home improvement store.
Important! The bushes should not interfere with each other, otherwise the yield will decrease.
Planting beans and further plant care
Let us consider in detail the process of planting and caring for the crop.
Preparing the soil for beans
For planting, you can use either universal soil for vegetables from the store or self-prepared soil.
To prepare it yourself, take one part of humus, one part of turf soil, and also (for one bucket of this mixture) a glass of wood ash.
Make drainage holes - pour about 3 cm thick expanded clay onto the bottom of the pot. Using acidic soil is unacceptable.
Sowing time for growing on windowsills and balconies
Soak the seeds for growing follows already in February. It is usually still cold on the balcony and windowsill at this time, so it is better to plant the plant in May.
Beans are afraid of frost and cold, so it’s better not to rush and wait for warm weather.
Seed preparation and sowing
To prepare seeds for sowing, follow the following algorithm:
- soak them for a day in water at room temperature;
- wrap the seeds in a damp cloth and place in a warm place for germination;
- check them daily for sprouts;
- As soon as they appear, immediately begin sowing. Do not delay - you must not allow the roots to sprout;
- To stimulate growth, you can add “Energen” or “Zircon”.
Important! If you decide to plant several varieties of beans at once, remember that their seeds do not germinate at the same time. Do not wait for all of them to germinate at once; plant each sprouted seed in its own individual container.
After the seeds sprout, you need to do the following:
- pour soil into the container so that about 5 cm remains to the edges;
- Water the soil generously;
- spread out the sprouted seeds - if it is a box, then the distance between the seeds should be at least 25 cm;
- pour soil 3-4 cm thick on top, compact it slightly;
- keep in a warm place until shoots emerge - you can cover the beans with film, because the plant is heat-loving.
Features of caring for beans
It is necessary to water the beans as the soil dries out. Focus on the weather - on hot days, give the plant more moisture. If in open ground beans can take the necessary moisture and nutrients from other plants, then in room conditions everything depends only on your watering.
Fertilizing begins after the first leaves appear. Pay attention to nitrogen fertilizers - they are especially useful. Also periodically sprinkle the plant with humus and mix it with the soil.
When the buds appear, fertilize with potassium fertilizers with the addition of microelements. The ideal option is ash. Sprinkle the soil with it, water and mix.
Important! The fertilizer called “Horse Manure Extract” attracted particular attention from gardeners. This substance is odorless and therefore suitable for use at home. This natural fertilizer nourishes the plant and saturates it with vitamins.
If the bushes are unstable, you can always tie them up with pegs. If you grow a crop in an open loggia, protect it from rain. Otherwise, water will stagnate in the containers.
The plant does not like darkening, so pay special attention to the light regime. The boxes are placed on the light side of the window sill or balcony. If there is not enough sun, create artificial lighting using a lamp.
First harvest
Ripe pods are immediately used for cooking. Fruits (beans) are picked only after they are fully ripe. They should be collected 2 weeks after flowering ends.
Don't delay harvesting. The sooner you pick it, the faster the next batch will ripen.
A common reason for a late harvest is cool weather. Growing beans at home cannot be called a large-scale production, but a dozen bushes will bring you fruits both for freezing and for fresh consumption.
Diseases and pests
Even if you provide a vegetable with all the necessary conditions for growing at home, this does not mean that it will not be affected by infections and parasites. If you have indoor plants at home, then aphids and spider mites can spread to bean bushes.
There is also a bean weevil - this is a beetle that is omnivorous in relation to all legumes. It is better to fight these insects with the help of biological preparations or by freezing dry seeds (in this case they must be placed in the freezer for two days).
Important! The crop is susceptible to bacteriosis, so you should take care of the plant’s immunity during flowering - spray the beans with special preparations. You can buy them at any gardening store.
Green beans: features of planting and care
Asparagus varieties are one of the most popular. The method of growing them at home is not much different from the standard one. At home it grows much faster than in the garden. You can plant it at the end of December, the first shoots will appear in a couple of days. And in mid-February, flowers already appear.
Reference. Beans are a self-pollinating plant, so the appearance of pods will not take long either. Asparagus varieties are less demanding of light than bush varieties.
The pods of green beans are tender, without coarse fibers. They can be added to soups, salads, and side dishes. The fruits are harvested when the pods have not yet formed and the grains are green.If you grow such beans on the balcony, you can occasionally feed them with manure. About 3 kg of asparagus crop is harvested from one square meter.
Conclusion
If you don’t have your own garden, but really want to grow something healthy and tasty, think about planting beans. The vegetable contains useful elements and vitamins, and does not require special knowledge and skills to care for. A window sill, balcony or loggia is suitable for placement. Prepare a container for seedlings in advance, and also choose the variety that is suitable for you.
The plant is unpretentious in care; the main thing is to follow the watering regime and fertilize it. The fruits have a pleasant taste, they are consumed fresh and frozen for the winter. Wishing you quick and rich home harvests!