When to Plant Green Beans
Sow green beans outside 1 to 4 weeks after your last frost, and again 11 to 13 weeks before your first fall frost for a fall crop.
Green beans at a glance
- Sow outside
- 1 to 4 weeks after your last frost
- Fall sowing
- 11 to 13 weeks before your first fall frost
- Time to harvest
- 50 to 60 days from sowing
- Harvest lasts
- about 6 weeks
- Spacing
- 9 per square foot
- Frost
- Tender: frost kills it
Growing green beans
Green beans are among the easiest crops. Sow them an inch deep in warm soil after the last frost. They make their own nitrogen, so they need little feeding, just steady water once they start to flower. Pick the pods while they are slim and snap cleanly, before the seeds bulge. Purple and yellow varieties are just as easy, and the purple ones are simple to spot among the leaves.
Dates by hardiness zone
Typical dates for each zone; your ZIP code gives your own.
| Zone | Sow | Sow for fall | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 3a | Jun 4–29 | – | Jul 24 – Sep 4 |
| Zone 3b | May 24 – Jul 10 | – | Jul 13 – Sep 8 |
| Zone 4a | May 19 – Jun 9 | Jun 29 – Jul 13 | Jul 8 – Sep 28 |
| Zone 4b | May 15 – Jun 5 | Jul 2–16 | Jul 4 – Oct 1 |
| Zone 5a | May 10–31 | Jul 6–20 | Jun 29 – Aug 10 · Aug 25 – Oct 5 |
| Zone 5b | May 8–29 | Jul 11–25 | Jun 27 – Aug 8 · Aug 30 – Oct 10 |
| Zone 6a | May 6–27 | Jul 17–31 | Jun 25 – Aug 6 · Sep 5 – Oct 16 |
| Zone 6b | Apr 30 – May 21 | Jul 23 – Aug 6 | Jun 19 – Jul 31 · Sep 11 – Oct 22 |
| Zone 7a | Apr 23 – May 14 | Jul 26 – Aug 9 | Jun 12 – Jul 24 · Sep 14 – Oct 25 |
| Zone 7b | Apr 12 – May 3 | Aug 2–16 | Jun 1 – Jul 13 · Sep 21 – Nov 1 |
| Zone 8a | Apr 5–26 | Aug 8–22 | May 25 – Jul 6 · Sep 27 – Nov 7 |
| Zone 8b | Mar 24 – Apr 14 | Aug 14–28 | May 13 – Jun 24 · Oct 3 – Nov 13 |
| Zone 9a | Mar 9–30 | Aug 27 – Sep 10 | Apr 28 – Jun 9 · Oct 16 – Nov 26 |
| Zone 9b | Feb 15 – Mar 8Nights are still cool before mid-February, so this starts a little later. | Sep 15–29 | Apr 6 – May 18 · Nov 4 – Dec 15 |
| Zone 10a | Feb 15 – Mar 8 | Sep 27 – Oct 11 | Apr 6 – May 18 · Nov 16 – Dec 27 |
| Zones 10b–11b | Frost is rare here, so green beans can go in from late winter, and again in late summer for a fall crop. | ||
Questions about green beans
Bush beans or pole beans?
Bush beans stay low and give one big picking over a few weeks; pole beans climb a trellis or teepee and keep producing for much longer on the same plants.
Why did my bean plants stop producing?
Pods left to grow big tell the plant it is done. Pick every few days while the pods are slim, and water in dry spells, especially while the plants flower.
