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Last edited on 1 Nov 2026. View history

Cannellini Dwarf Bean

Phaseolus vulgaris

A variety of bean

The classic Italian white bean for minestrone, stews and dry bean dishes. Mild, nutty and creamy, and holds its shape if cooked slowly.

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Cannellini dwarf bean facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less
Optimal temperature 16–25 °C
Absolute temperature 7–32 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall 500–2000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 300–4300 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH 5.5–7.5
Absolute soil pH 4–9
FAO EcoCrop

Crop cycle

50–270 days
FAO EcoCrop

Max altitude

3000 m
FAO EcoCrop

Optimal light

very bright to clear skies
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?

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 cannellini dwarf 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 cannellini dwarf 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.

Growing cannellini dwarf beans

  1. Dig the bed and add compost 1 week before sowing
  2. Put up supports for climbing beans 1 week after sowing
  3. Water regularly at sowing every week
  4. Weed carefully 3 weeks after sowing every 2 weeks
  5. Pick beans regularly at first harvest every week
  6. Leave some pods to dry for seed 6 weeks after first harvest
  7. Pull out finished plants and dig in the roots 8 weeks after first harvest

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Ecological requirements

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)

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