If you are living in warmer climates, and wondering what kind of legumes to grow, then black beans will be a good selection. Just like other legumes, black bean is easy to grow and maintain. To grow, just find a sunny spot with a soil that is averagely fertile. Sow your black bean seeds 1-2 inches deep and water gently. After germination, black bean can take 90-140 days to be ready for harvesting.
For details on how to grow black beans from seeds at home, read on.
What is black bean?
Black bean is one of the varieties of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), which is widely cultivated as vegetable in Latin America. Black bean is popular in Latin America cuisine, Indian cuisine, and Tamil cuisine.
Black bean is parked with many nutrients such as protein, dietary fines, and vitamins. And these nutrients make black bean populy among Latin Americans.
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How to grow black bean from seeds at home
Here is a step by step instructions:
1. Choose the right black bean variety: the first step to growing Black bean is choose and plant a good variety that is well adopted to your area. This is a variety of black bean that already developed resistant to the common pests and diseases in your area. A black bean variety that is adopted to an area can also withstand very low or high temperatures.
This variety can be obtained from your local gardeners or growers. Most gardeners or farmers have detailed information about a particular variety, and you will find out that they saved those varieties with the highest quality. Common varieties of black bean that are widely cultivated are the bush and pole beans.
2. Choose the right planting time for planting black bean: black bean loves warm temperatures. So, start seeds indoors early in the spring. However, if you are starting seeds outdoors, wait till all the dangers of last frost have passed. Sow your black bean seeds during the late spring when the soil temperatures is about 69°F.
3. Choose the right garden spot: start a garden on the right spot. Black bean thrives well in full sun and soil that is moderately fertile with pH that ranges between 6-6.5. The garden spot should be well-ventilated and unshaded by wall or other structures. Do not grow black bean in waterlogged area as the plant will not thrive well.
4. Prepare the garden spot: prepare the garden spot by loosening the top 10 inches of your garden soil using garden rake and fork. Remove large rocks, stones, and other off plants. Mix in 2-5 inches of compost into the garden soil. Make rows and space them about 18-24 inches apart. Black beans are climbers. So, you can consider making trellis.
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5. Sow your black bean seeds: if you are starting your black bean seeds indoors, sow seeds in biodegradable pots so that you can plant the seedlings together with the pots when you are transplanting. This is because black bean or generally legumes are not tolerate to transplanting. But, when you plant in biodegradable pots, they can be transplant with the pots without removing roots from the pots.
However, if you are planting outdoors, sow your black bean seeds 1-2 inches deep and cover with dirt. Space planting holes about 4-6 inches apart. Water gently immediately after planting to encourage fast germination. After 5-10 days your black bean seeds will germinate.
Note: sow black bean seeds with the eye of the bean seed facing. Do not sow upside down.
6. Mulch the garden surface: in order to retain moisture, you can consider mulching the surface with straw or hay. Also, you can side dress the plants with compost.
7. Take care of your garden: take care of black beans garden by timely weeding the garden. Water the garden gently and regularly. Avoid overwatering your garden. This is because overwatering can attract pests and diseases, which can damage your black beans. Additionally, black bean plants do not thrive well in boggy soil. They prefer well-drained soil.
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8. Pests and diseases: black beans can be attacked by pests and diseases that attack legumes. Common pests include aphids and beetles. And diseases include bacto stem rot and aphid-borne viruses. Learn more about pests and diseases from our guide to growing legumes.
9. Harvest your black bean plants: when fully matured or ripe, black bean pods turn into yellow from green. The beans will also become dry. Some varieties of black bean will continue to grow through the season. So, if you are growing these types of varieties, make sure you do not remove the plants entirely at once. Use your garden scissors or secatour to snip away the matured pods from the parent plant while harvesting.
Note: sow bush beans in either blocks or rows, space planting hopes about 4-6 inches apart. Plant the bush bean seeds 1-2 inches deep and make sure you water the soil immediately after sowing and regularly. On the other hand, Pole beans need some kind of support to grow on. Make sure you make trellis in the garden. Sow black bean seeds at a rate of about 3-6 seeds for every 6 inches apart.
Read also: How To Grow Asparagus From Seeds And Cuttings
How to grow black beans in cup
This method of growing black bean is useful for people who are living in small apartment. Here is a step by step instructions on how to grow black beans in cup:
1. Find cupa with reasonanble size: in this case, i recommend using cups with about 8oz size. You can get them cheaply on Amazon.
2. Fill the cups with soil: fill the cups with soil. Remember we mentioned the type of soil black bean thrive well. So, use that type of soil. Make sure you create a small hole underneath each cup. This hole will allow water to drain out.
3. Sow your black bean seeds: make a 1 inch hole in each cup containing soil. Sow seeds in the hole and cover with dirt. Water immediately to keep the soil and seeds moists. Keep the cups in a sunny direction with good ventilation. Water regularly but avoif wetting the soil.
Read also: How To Grow Adzuki Beans From Seeds In 8 Easy Steps
How long does it take to grow black beans.
Under normal climatic conditions, a healrhy black bean can take about 90 to 140 days to mature from seeds planting to harvesting. However, some varities of black bean can mature earlier or later than the time i stated here.
Conclusion
In this article, I looked at how to grow black bean from seeds. I also looked at how to grow black bean seeds in cup. Let me know if you have any questions.
