5 Tips for Harvesting Pole Beans

Here are five tips for harvesting pole beans:

1. Avoid harvesting beans when plants are wet. Harvest aggressively heat waves above 85°F, and before cold snaps or frost.
2. Consistent harvesting of snap beans will encourage production of new pods and longer-lived vines.
3. Snap beans are generally ready for harvest about 2 to 3 weeks after bean flowers bloomed, and may be produced by a given plant for 10 to 14 weeks or longer if harvested every few days. Handle snap beans carefully to avoid bruising tender skins.
4. Shell beans have a relatively short harvest window of about 10 to 18 days before they begin to mature into dry beans.
5. When growing pole snap beans to fully mature dry beans, water normally until the pods fill out, then reduce watering. When the pods begin to turn brown, reduce irrigation to the minimum needed to prevent wilting, which will help beans to dry while hardening before harvest.

To view customized information for growing pole beans in your area, go to GardenZeus and enter your zip code, then to go pole bean.