Home » Misc » Dwarf green beans

Dwarf green beans


How To Grow French Beans (Dwarf)

Growing Dwarf French Beans

Dwarf French Beans are a compact habit plant that don't need staking like runner beans or peas. They are easy to grow and withstand dry conditions perhaps better than any other crop, and they leave the soil in very good if not better condition after cropping because of the nitrogen built up on the roots. French beans are picked when they are young and green, the beans are not removed but the complete pod cooked and eaten.

Soil Preparation

French beans prefer light soil, but can be grown in heavy clay soil if enough fine organic matter is forked in. During the Autumn or Winter dig in old compost or well rotted manure at one bucketful to the square meter. Leave the ground rough during the Winter to let the cold winds and frosts get to it. In the spring give the soil a light forking and add some organic fertilizer.

Sowing French Beans

French Bean seed should never be sown if the soil is wet and cold - never pour water in the drill at sowing time. For an early crop of French beans – sow under cloches.
Start in late March or early April for a harvest in June by sowing seeds in boxes of potting compost in a cold frame 5cm (2in) apart and 5cm deep.
Gradually introduce the seedlings to colder climates by raising the frame light to allow air circulation and leave off completely on fine warm days.
Transplant the French bean seedlings towards the end of May, 22.5cm (9in) between plants and rows 45.5cm (18in) apart.

Indoor Sowing

Sow French beans towards the end of May in 7cm 6 cell modules. Plant one seed per module about 4cm deep. Use a fine seed compost. Water and leave in the greenhouse or polytunnel to germinate. There should be no need for a heat bench or propagator this time of year. The seeds should germinate in 7 - 14 days and will grow quickly.

Hardening Off

Plants that have been raised indoors will need to get used to the outdoor temperature and conditions before they can be planted outside, this will take about a week to 10 days depending on the weather. French beans hate the cold and are likely to suffer shock so make sure you do this. The best way is to use a cloche or mini greenhouse. You can leave the cloche off the plants on dry frost free days and replace at night. Gradually increase the time with the cloche removed until the end of the week when you leave it off day and night. If the weather is mild you may not need the cloche, just move the plants outside for longer periods each day. If you have started your seeds on a windowsill you will need to leave them in an unheated room for a day or two before moving outside to the cloche.

Direct Sowing Dwarf French Beans

French beans can be direct sown outside towards the end of May. It is possible to start them off earlier if you have a more southerly garden, I'm keeping on the safe side. Sow beans 4cm deep with a spacing of 15cm between plants and 40cm between rows. Slugs Slugs can be a major problem when seedlings are small. Use an organic slug pellet or use a beer trap for control.

Main Crop French Beans

Put cloches in place two weeks before sowing to warm up the ground. About the last week in April put out a line of string as a guide and form a V-shaped drill 5cm (2in) deep with the hoe.

Sow the French beans seed 15cm (6in) apart and then rake the soil back over lightly to cover the beans completely.
Firm the soil down with the flat part of the hoe - this sowing should be ready in early July.

Sow the next crop in May without glass. For a succession of crops and regular picking of beans you will need to sow a row of French beans every three weeks from April to the middle of July.

If you want to discover the best cropping powers and flavour for your particular garden try sowing a different variety each time.
It can be sometimes necessary to water under cloches when the plants are 15cm (6in) high. In early October, cover the mid-July sowings with cloches again to protect the French beans from frosts. This way it is possible to pick French beans until the second week of November.

Planting Out

One you've hardened off your bean seedlings they are ready to be planted out in the garden. Choose a warm sheltered  as French Beans hate exposed sites. Plant in rows with 15cm between plants and 40cm between rows.

Plant Care for French Beans

Keep the area around the seedlings weed free and aerated with regular hoeing. An oscillating hoe is the easiest and most satisfying tool for hand weeding.

Slugs

Keep an eye out for slugs as they can ruin all your hard work in no time. Use an organic slug bait or beer trap.
Apparently slugs love bran so leaving bran piles around the garden will attract them in their droves. You can collect them and throw them over your neighbour's wall. It is said they gorge themselves so much they explode but I can't say I've ever witnessed this particular spectacle.

Thinning

When the French Bean plants are about 10cm (4in). high, thin them to (22.5cm (9in) apart.

When the pods are formed you can help a little by pushing in some twiggy sticks to keep the plants upright and prevent the beans from trailing on the ground - but normally French beans will stand upright of their own accord.

Supporting the French beans also keeps them clean and lessens the possible threat of damage by slugs. So you could put bamboo canes at both ends of each row and tie some string between them to help keep them upright. Hoe lightly between the rows to keep down the weeds. When you do this, draw the soil up to the plant rather than away.

Pests

Slugs as they can ruin all your bean plants in no time. Use an organic slug bait or beer trap.
Black bean aphid (Blackfly) can be problem in July and August. You can spray with the natural insecticide 'Pyrethrum' or wash off with a strong jet of water. Growing marigolds near beans can help as they attract beneficial insects like ladybirds who love to eat blackfly.

Downy Mildew and foot rot can be a problem but with good crop rotation this can easily be controlled.

Harvesting

Regular picking will encourage more pod formation and produce a bigger crop. Always pick young and tender pods. If you leave them to grow more than 10cm (4in) they become tough. Hold the stem and pull the pod in a downwards direction to avoid damage and uprooting when picking French beans. You can harvest your french Beans from July until the first frost. It's important to pick your pods regularly (at least once or twice a week) to get the tenderest beans. Many people are put off runner and French beans from eating beans which have grown too big and stringy.

Keep Picking!

If you don't keep harvesting the plant will put all its energy into ripening the seeds rather than producing fresh, new beans for you to eat. Even if you can't face another bean keep picking otherwise the plant will stop producing for the season. If you let just one or two beans ripen the plant will shut down production. You will have a glut of beans at some stage so read up on how to store them, give them away, compost them, whatever, just keep picking!

Storing French Beans

If you want dried beans (haricot) for the winter, leave a few plants to ripen and at the end of the summer cut them at ground level. Hang the beans to dry upside down in the sun (cover in bad weather). When the French bean pods are absolutely crisp and dry, shell them and store in airtight containers.

French beans - How to Grow / RHS Gardening

French beans are delicious and easy to grow in the ground or in containers. The slender, stringless beans make great finger food for children, and come in a range of attractive colours – as well as the usual green, you can grow cream, yellow and purple-podded varieties. There are fast-cropping dwarf varieties, as well as climbing varieties that crop over a longer period – both are ideal in small spaces as they take up little ground space.

Save to My scrapbook

Jobs to do now

Month by month
JanuaryFebruaryMarch
AprilMayJune
Sow
Sow
Sow
JulyAugustSeptember
Sow
Harvest
Harvest
Harvest
OctoberNovemberDecember
JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJune
Sow
Sow
Sow
JulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
Sow
Harvest
Harvest
Harvest

Jump to

Sow

There are two types of French bean – climbing and dwarf. Dwarf beans are perfect for small spaces, growing well in containers and in the ground. Climbing beans need tall, sturdy supports and do best in the ground, but can also be grown in large containers. As they grow vertically, climbers produce a large crop in a small area of ground. 

Dwarf beans are quick to grow, but only crop for a few weeks, so make repeat sowings for a summer-long supply. Climbing beans take longer to reach cropping stage, but will produce beans over a longer period, from mid-summer to early autumn if picked regularly.

You’ll find a huge range of varieties available as seed in garden centres and online. There are varieties with pods in a range of attractive colours, from traditional green through shades of yellow and dark purple. Look in particular for varieties with an RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM), which shows they performed well in trials – see our list of AGM fruit and veg. If you don’t have room to grow from seed, young plants can also be bought from garden centres and online suppliers in spring, ready for planting outside.

Sow indoors

For an early crop, sow indoors in late April to early May. Use small pots or modules, sowing one bean in each, 5cm (2in) deep. Place in a propagator or on a warm, sunny windowsill to germinate. They will grow fast in warm, bright conditions and need watering regularly. 

In late May or early June, harden off the young plants to acclimatise them to outdoor conditions. Then plant into their final site, either in the ground or in a large container, after all risk of frost has passed – see Plant outside, below.

Sow outdoors – in the ground

French beans can be sown outdoors once all risk of frost has passed and the soil is warming up. This is usually in late May or early June, depending on your local climate. You can warm the soil with fleece or cloches before sowing, then leave the covering in place after sowing to give the young plants extra protection. 
If growing in the ground, choose a warm, sunny spot, then prepare the site by removing weeds and forking in plenty of well-rotted manure or garden compost, and watering well.  
 
With climbing beans, it’s best to put the supports in place before sowing – these are usually tall bamboo canes, in a wigwam or double row – see Grow, below, for details. 

Dwarf beans are best sown in blocks rather than rows, so they support each other. 
Sow the seeds individually, 5cm (2in) deep and 15cm (6in) apart. With dwarf beans, you can make several sowings of small batches a few weeks apart, to provide harvests over a longer period. 

Sow outdoors – in containers

You can sow seeds outdoors into pots of multi-purpose compost in spring – either into small pots for transplanting into the ground later, or into large containers as their final growing site. Sow one bean per small pot, 5cm (2in) deep, and place in a coldframe or a warm, sheltered position. The seedlings may need some protection (such as fleece) at night. Once the plants reach 8cm (3in) tall and all risk of frost has passed, plant out into their final positions (see Plant outside, below).

Both dwarf and climbing beans can be grown in large containers and make attractive additions to patios and small gardens. They need a warm, sheltered, sunny position. For dwarf beans the container should be 30–45cm (12–18in) wide, and for climbing beans 75cm (30in) wide and 45cm (18in) deep – a large tub or half-barrel is ideal.

Simply sow the seeds direct into the container, spacing them 15cm (6in) apart. Insert a wigwam of 1.8m (6ft) canes to support climbing beans (see Grow below), and choose a heavy container to keep it from toppling over. Dwarf beans don’t usually need support and look great cascading over the sides of a pot, or even in a hanging basket.

Plant outside

Wait until after the last frost before planting indoor-raised or bought young plants outside. Then harden them off to acclimatise them to outdoor conditions for a couple of weeks, either by putting them in a coldframe or placing them in a warm, sheltered spot, covered with fleece. Once hardened off, plant them into their final growing position, in a sunny, sheltered spot. If planting in the ground, enrich the soil with well-rotted manure or garden compost beforehand. If planting in a container, choose multi-purpose or loam-based compost. Containers should be at least 30–45cm (12–18in) wide for dwarf beans, and 75cm (30in) wide and 45cm (18in) deep for climbing beans.

Water plants well before and after planting, and space them 15cm (6in) apart. 

With climbing beans, it’s best to put the supports in place first – see Grow, below. Position one plant at the base of each cane, and loosely tie the shoots to the cane to get them started. 

Grow

Supporting French beans

Climbing French beans need tall, sturdy supports to climb up. The traditional method is to grow them along a double row of bamboo canes (1.8m/6ft tall), with 45cm (18in) between the two rows. Space the bamboo canes 15cm (6in) apart within each row and slope them inwards, then tie near the top to a horizontal cane, to form an A-frame.

Alternatively, create an X-frame by sloping the canes at a sharper angle so they cross in the middle. Tie them at the centre, and add a horizontal cane to link them all together and increase stability. An X-frame takes up more space, but picking is easier and cropping is usually better.

If you don’t have room for a double row of canes, you can make wigwams. Again, use 1.8m (6ft) canes, four or five per wigwam, spacing them 15cm (6in) apart at the base. Tie the tops of the canes together. Wigwams make an attractive feature in a border or veg plot and also work
well when growing in containers. Loosely tie young plants to the canes to get them started.

With dwarf beans, you can insert short twiggy sticks between the plants to keep them upright and lift the pods off the soil.

Watering

Beans are thirsty plants and crop best when watered regularly, especially once they start to flower and form pods. Regular and generous watering is particularly important for plants growing in containers, which dry out quickly.

Mulching

Place a mulch of well-rotted manure or mushroom compost around plants in July to help hold moisture in the soil.

Weeding

Keep plants weed-free. Growing plants through slits in weed-suppressing membrane is possible, and prevents the pods of dwarf beans being damaged by contact with the soil.

Harvesting

You can harvest French beans from mid-summer to early autumn. If picked regularly, dwarf French bean plants will crop for several weeks and climbing French beans for much longer.

Begin picking the pods when they’re 10cm (4in) long. They are ready when they snap easily and before the beans can be seen through the pod.

Recommended Varieties

French beans — climbing
French beans — dwarf

Common problems

Slugs and snails

These feed on the young seedlings and you'll see the tell tale slime trail on the soil around your crop, as well as on the leaves.

Remedy

There are many ways to control slugs and snails, including beer traps, sawdust or eggshell barriers, copper tape and biocontrols.

Birds

Birds, especially pigeons, can cause an array of problems including eating seedlings, buds, leaves, fruit and vegetables.

Remedy

Protect the plants from birds by covering them with netting or fleece. Scarecrows and bird-scaring mechanisms work for a while, but the most reliable method of protection is to cover plants with horticultural fleece or mesh.

Black bean aphid

Sap-sucking aphids will disfigure plants and cause stunting to leaves and stems.

Remedy

In the case of broad beans, pinch out infested tips. On other beans, catch populations when small and squash.

Recipes

Try this simple summer salad of French beans atop mozzarella slices with an unusual yoghurt dressing.

Save to My scrapbook

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.