Growth & Development of a Bean Plant With Controlled Light

Planting Beans

• Bean plants should be planted in spring to take advantage of the coming warmth and light of summer. They can be planted from March to August for a continuous harvest. Because bean plants are sensitive to cold, they don't thrive through the winter in an outdoor setting.

Appearance

• Bean plants grow straight up and attain a height of 12 to 30 inches. Bean vines grow longer and can reach up to 8 feet long. Each bean plant or vine can produce up to 100 bean pods, which contain the beans of the plant.

Restricted Light

• Like all growing things, bean plants require a good amount of light to grow and maintain their foliage and harvest. Bean plants grow best in full sun or artificial lighting. If they don't get enough lights, bean plants conserve their energy for maintaining the foliage they already have. The plants get correspondingly smaller with restricted light.

Needs

• Bean plants need full sun, quick-draining soil, compost and fertilizer. If they're not getting enough nutrition, they won't grow. Instead, they remain small and conserve their energy. Beans cannot be grown close together and don't thrive in soil that is kept wet.

Considerations

• Bean plants can be prone to diseases like blight. In the outdoors, rabbits and deer also devour the plants.