Bean planting dates by zone

Snap, shelling and dry beans

University of Minnesota Extension says the common bean is grown three ways: as snap beans, picked while the pods are succulent and the seeds immature; as shelling beans, picked when the pods turn fibrous and the seeds are full size but soft; and as dry beans, picked when pods and seeds have dried. University of Illinois Extension says snap beans were once called string beans, until breeders reduced the fiber along the seams.

Minnesota says pods may be green, yellow (wax), purple or striped, and that purple pods turn dark green when cooked. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions names ‘Bush Blue Lake’, ‘Contender’, ‘Roma II’ and ‘Provider’ as snap beans for Florida, ‘Cherokee Wax’ as a yellow wax bean, and ‘Horticultural’, ‘Pinto’, ‘Red Kidney’, ‘Black Bean’ and ‘Navy’ for shelling.

Limas are a separate species. Minnesota says they need warm soil, warm weather and a somewhat longer season than common beans, grow best in sandier soil, and perform poorly in a cool summer.

Bush or pole

Minnesota says bush beans stand about two feet tall without support and set their pods over a short period, so a row gives a large harvest at once; pole beans are twining vines six feet or more that need a trellis and flower and bear all season. In very hot weather, it says, pole beans fail to set only a few pods and then carry on.

UF/IFAS says pole beans yield far more per square foot: a ten-foot row of pole beans can produce 8 pounds in a season, against about 4.5 pounds of bush beans in the same space. It names ‘McCaslan’, ‘Kentucky Wonder’, ‘Rattlesnake’ and ‘Blue Lake’ for Florida, and says to choose rust-resistant pole beans in a humid climate.

Put supports in at planting time. Minnesota uses six-foot stakes and twine or a teepee of poles, and UF/IFAS installs the trellis before sowing because bean roots are weak and easily disturbed.

Sowing

Beans go in once the soil has warmed. Minnesota says that in much of Minnesota this is late May or early June, and that seed planted in cold soil may rot rather than sprout. Illinois plants after all danger of frost has passed, or a week to 10 days before the average last frost if the soil has already warmed. The table dates sowing 1 week after each zone’s median last spring freeze, the offset our seed-starting tool uses, and a cautious date the last freeze falls before in nine years of ten.

Sow, do not transplant: UF/IFAS says transplants do not do well. Illinois and Minnesota sow seed about an inch deep, UF/IFAS 1 to 2 inches. Illinois spaces bush beans 2 to 4 inches apart in rows 18 to 24 inches apart, and pole beans 4 to 6 inches apart in rows 30 to 36 inches apart; Minnesota sows bush beans four inches apart in rows two to three feet apart, and two to four seeds at the base of each pole.

Do not soak the seed. Illinois and UF/IFAS say too much moisture makes bean seed crack and germinate poorly; water just after planting instead. Minnesota says powdered Rhizobium inoculum on the seed can help growth and yield, and to buy one meant for beans rather than peas.

Sowing again

Bush beans finish quickly, so sow more. Minnesota sows bush beans every two weeks until early August, and Illinois plants every 2 to 4 weeks until early August. Minnesota says pole beans bear until frost, so they need no succession sowing. Our succession tool repeats bush beans every 14 days.

The table’s last sowing counts back 55 days from each zone’s median first fall freeze, our crop table’s days to harvest with no frost to spare. UF/IFAS gives bush beans about 50 to 60 days to harvest and pole beans 50 to 70.

Care

Minnesota says one inch of rain a week is good, and sandy soils need water more often. UF/IFAS keeps the soil moist until the seeds sprout, then waters whenever the surface dries.

Beans need little fertilizer. UF/IFAS feeds them at half the rate used for other vegetables, and says too much nitrogen gives more leaves and fewer beans. Minnesota grows them in soil with a pH of 6 to 7.

Weed shallowly. Illinois, Minnesota and UF/IFAS all say bean roots are shallow or weak and close cultivation injures them; Minnesota mulches three to four inches deep with herbicide-free grass clippings or straw.

Southern timing

Texas A&M AgriLife’s home vegetable gardening guide sows bush snap beans 1 to 4 weeks after the frost-free date in spring and 8 to 10 weeks before the first freeze in fall, pole snap beans 1 to 4 weeks after in spring and 14 to 16 weeks before in fall.

UF/IFAS says beans are a warm-season crop in Florida that can be planted twice a year, and points to its Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide for the dates in each part of the state.

Harvest

Pick snap beans before the seeds bulge in the pod. Minnesota says that after that point the pods are less juicy and more fibrous; Illinois picks when the pods are firm, crisp and full length, and says the plant keeps flowering if pods are removed before the seeds mature.

Pick when the plants are dry. Illinois says picking wet plants spreads bacterial blight, and that bean stems are brittle, so take care not to break them.

Common problems

Illinois says blossoms drop without forming pods in periods of hot, dry wind, and Minnesota that hot days and nights abort flowers and cut the yield. Minnesota names cutworms, bean leaf beetles, aphids and spider mites among the insects, and Illinois the Mexican bean beetle, whose fuzzy yellow larvae do the damage.

For disease, Illinois says the only satisfactory control for bean mosaic is a mosaic-resistant variety, and that bacterial blight is best controlled with disease-free seed, keeping off wet plants and clearing bean debris. Illinois also says to grow beans in a different part of the garden each year, because their diseases carry over in the soil.

Common mistakes

• Sowing into cold soil. Minnesota says the seed may rot instead of sprouting.
• Soaking the seed first. Illinois and UF/IFAS say it makes the seed crack.
• Picking with wet plants. Illinois says it spreads bacterial blight.
• Too much nitrogen. UF/IFAS says it gives leaves instead of beans.
• Planting beans in the same spot every year. Illinois says their diseases carry over in the soil.
• Putting up pole supports after the seedlings are up. Minnesota and UF/IFAS put them in at planting.

We found no bean source from Clemson, Louisiana, Alabama or Mississippi that we could read for this page. The Southern timing here is Texas A&M AgriLife’s and UF/IFAS’s.

Questions

When should I plant green beans?

University of Minnesota Extension plants beans once the soil has warmed, and University of Illinois Extension after all danger of frost has passed. The table on this page gives a date 1 week after each zone’s median last spring freeze, from NOAA records.

Are bush beans or pole beans better?

They differ. Minnesota says bush beans need no support and give a large harvest at once, while pole beans need a trellis and bear all season. UF/IFAS says pole beans yield about 8 pounds per ten-foot row against about 4.5 for bush beans.

How often should I plant bush beans?

Minnesota sows bush beans every two weeks until early August, and Illinois every 2 to 4 weeks. Pole beans bear until frost, Minnesota says, so they need only one sowing.

Why are my bean flowers dropping off?

Illinois says blossoms drop without forming pods during hot, dry winds, and Minnesota says hot days and nights abort the flowers. Pole beans, Minnesota adds, recover and set more pods when the weather returns to normal.

Should I soak bean seeds before planting?

No. Illinois and UF/IFAS say too much moisture makes bean seed crack and germinate poorly. Water just after planting instead.

Sources

Freeze dates on this page are NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, for every station the ZIP codes in each zone cite. Zones are the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023. The planting rules are named beside the table. Growing advice is quoted from the extension publications below, each written for its own area.

• University of Minnesota Extension, Growing beans in home gardens , by Marissa Schuh and Jill MacKenzie (Reviewed 2024). Written for: Minnesota (USDA zones 3a–5a).
• University of Illinois Extension, Snap Beans (Home Vegetable Gardening) . Written for: Illinois (USDA zones 5a–7a).
• UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, Bush Beans (Accessed October 2026). Written for: Florida (USDA zones 8b–11b).
• UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, Pole Beans (Accessed October 2026). Written for: Florida (USDA zones 8b–11b).
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Texas Home Vegetable Gardening Guide (EHT-077) , by Joseph Masabni (June 2014). Written for: Texas (USDA zones 6b–10b).

How we write our guides

Published October 27, 2026