Last edited by shiny on November 11, 2026. View history
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For bean, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 7°C and a shortest growing cycle of 50 days at its best temperature, about 675 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your bean will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
by shiny,
Beans, peas and corn: remove husks and allow seeds to dry out – this may take a couple of weeks, then remove casings and store.
Pumpkins and melons: seeds need to be washed and set aside to dry for a week or so before …
corn
pumpkins
melons
lettuces
celery
parsnips
carrots
leeks
onions
radicchio
cucumbers
tomatoes
zucchini
capsica
by oakandsage,
I never have good results growing beans here (SoCal, not too far from the high desert). Few ever sprout. Those that do never grow above 4-6" high and product 1-3 podseach, if they live long enough. (Note - I use legume inoculant on most, but not all, seeds of each type of [bean](/crops/bean…
by Skud,
I really should've got started on winter planting sooner, I think. Everything in the garden is in a lull right now. Although people near me are still blogging about the last of their crops from summer, all we have still going are some chillis and some basil. Lots of things …
zucchini
celeriac
chives
beans
lavender
pumpkins
by melannen,
I HAVE SPROUTS!
I'm way too excited about this for somebody my age.
There are a lot of beets coming up. In fact, way more sprouts than seeds I planted?? Do "beet seeds" actually each have more than one seed in them? Am I going to have to figure out how to thin the…
beets
beans
by oakandsage,
Yay, seeds arrived. Gonna go on a planting binge tomorrow. Especially since tomorrow is tomato day!
Got: Golden purslane Watercress Yard long bean Blackeye pea Charentais melon Cantaloupe (M…
watercress
beans
peas
melons
cantaloupes
tomatoes
cauliflowers
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 50 to 270 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Phaseolus vulgaris L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Fabales Leguminosae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | prostrate/procumbent/semi-erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours) |
Resources outside Growstuff.
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Groubes harvested not specified.
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