Fresh green beans are a favorite among gardeners. They are great fresh or cooked. These easy to grow vegetables are a great addition to your garden.
Are you ready to grow green beans in Phoenix or zone 9b? Find out the best time to plant and how to grow green beans.
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Green beans are part of the legume family. All beans are legumes, but not all legumes are beans.
Grow Green Beans in Your Phoenix Garden
- When and how to plant green beans
- What grows well near green beans and what doesn’t?
- How to care for green beans
- Harvesting green beans- When is the ideal time to pick green beans?
How to Plant & Grow Green Beans in Phoenix
The two main choices in green beans is the bush bean or the pole bean. Which is better? Depends on the size of your garden.
The bush bean growth is more compact and good for a small garden. The pole bean grows vertical 10 feet or more, so a support structure is needed for this type of bean.
Best Time to Plant Green Beans
Green beans are unique warm season vegetables because there are two ideal times to plant them in Phoenix or gardening zone 9b.
For an early season crop plant green beans in March and April. They can also be planted again at the end of July through the beginning of September. This gives you a chance to harvest green beans twice each year. If you stagger planting every couple weeks you will have a continuous harvest.
Green beans are an easy crop to grown in Phoenix gardens. I usually plant the seeds in November and cover plants if there is a frost warning. You can also start seeds indoors and wait to plant outside until after threats of frost have passed.
This year we put tomato cages around them to give them something to climb and keep them off the ground. This also gives us more space in the veggie garden.
Companion Plants for Green Beans
Green beans are part of the legume family, so relatives such as snow or sugar snap peas do well planted nearby.
The best companion plants for green beans include peas, cucumber, parsley, and radishes. Bush beans benefit from being interplanted with strawberries.
Similar to people green beans don’t get along with every vegetable. You should not plant green beans with onions, peppers, or tomatoes. Keep them away from sunflowers as well.
How to Care for Green Beans
Beans have shallow roots, so place mulch around them to keep them cool from the Arizona sun.
Light Requirements: Green beans need full sun or about 6 hours of sun a day.
Soil Requirements: Prefers loamy well-drained soil, but green beans can also grow well in amended clay soils as well. Green beans like slightly acidic to neutral pH. The soil pH range of 6-7 is ideal.
Water Requirements: Green beans like well-drained soil. They need about 2″ of water each week.
When to Harvest Green Beans in Phoenix and Gardening Zone 9b
The average harvest time is 60-90 days. As always, we recommend choosing a variety with the quickest harvest time.
