Bush Bean Question

stevenfstein 4/15/2021, 1:56 pm

My first year with SFG although I've grown vegetables before. I downloaded a few planting guides including the one from SFG and read Mel's book. According to SFG, I should plant bush beans 9 to a square. Other guides give me anywhere from 1 - 4. One of my sections is 4x3 which would put me at 108 bush bean plants. Seems like way too many. I will be buying nursery stock in the little starter pots, not starting my own from seed. To further compound the issue, the tag from the Blue Lake variety I planted last year has a recommended spacing of 18" apart. To quote Vinny Barbarino, "I'm so confused". Guidance appreciated...

Best... Steve

OhioGardener 4/15/2021, 2:15 pm

I've never heard of buying nursery stock bush beans, Steve, since they are so easy to grow from seed. Seeds would certainly be a lot less expensive. But, nevertheless, I always plant the bush beans 9 per square and they do exceptionally well. I grow a lot of green beans for canning & freezing to get us through the winter, so I plant two 4'x4' sections with 9 plants per square (144 seeds for that, cost ~$5). I also use bean inoculant, but that is another story.

When spacing seeds for the SFG method, use the "thin to" measurement for spacing. I suspect the 18" spacing you refer to is for "between rows", not between plants. I just looked at the package of Blue Lake Bush Beans I have, and it says to "plant in rows 2' apart, and thin plants to 3" to 4" apart". If you plant 9 per square, that is 4" spacing.

Here are some pictures of the Blue Lake Bush Beans last summer, planted at 9 per square....

**AtlantaMarie** 4/21/2021, 7:39 am

I also have had good results with 9/square. And when they seem to stopped producing, I've trimmed them severely & had them come back for a 2nd crop.

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