Kidney beans
How do you sow kidney beans outdoors?
Sow kidney beans in a sunny spot once all risk of frost has passed and the soil has warmed to at least 12 °C. Choose a variety suited to the length of your growing season: beans grown for drying need time to ripen. Weed and prepare well-drained soil; you can add well-rotted compost if needed.
Follow the seed packet instructions, as spacing depends on whether the variety is dwarf or climbing. For a dwarf variety, you can sow individual seeds about 5 cm deep, 10 cm apart, in rows 45 cm apart, then thin to about 30 cm as the plants develop. For a climbing variety, put up supports before sowing and place one or two seeds at the base of each cane; later keep one plant per cane.
Keep the soil moist without waterlogging it and protect young plants from slugs. Weed gently and water during dry spells, especially at flowering and while pods are forming. To harvest dried beans, let the pods ripen and dry: do not pick them while tender as you would green beans.
How do you harvest kidney beans?
To harvest dried kidney beans, wait until the pods are ripe, dry and brittle. The timing depends on the variety, sowing date and climate; a full pod alone does not mean the beans are ready for storage.
Pick the pods in dry weather, before the first frost. If the weather turns wet, finish drying mature pods under cover in a well-ventilated place. Shell them and spread the beans on a tray until completely dry and hard; do not rely on a fixed drying time of a few days.
Sort the beans and discard any that are mouldy or damaged. Store only fully dried beans in an airtight container in a dry, dark place. Check their condition regularly. Do not eat them raw: soaking and adequate cooking are essential.
Spread pods and then beans in a thin layer rather than piling them into a closed bag while drying. Turn and inspect the batch for persistent moisture or damaged beans. Keep harvests at different drying stages separate instead of adding damp beans to a dry batch. Drying prepares beans for storage; it never replaces the cooking needed before they are eaten.
Kidney beans
- Type : Vegetables
- Subtype : Seed vegetables
- Botanical Family : Fabaceae (papilionaceae / legumes)
Characteristics
- Lifecycle : Annual
- Exposure : Full Sun
- Frost Hardiness : Frost Sensitive
- Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
- Mature height : 40 cm
Sowing & Planting
- Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
- Sowing Depth : 3 cm
- Plant Spacing : 8 cm
- Row Spacing : 40 cm
Maintenance
- Maintenance : Low
- Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
- Soil Type : Humus-rich
- Soil pH Preference : Neutral
- Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
- Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
- Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
- Pollination : Self-pollinating
- Propagation : Sowing