Planting bush beans in a raised bed garden

[mr.greenjeans]

This is my first post so I will start with hello everyone! This will be my third season with a raised bed garden and so far it has gone pretty well. I've planted pole beans the last two years but I want to try bush beans this year. From what I've read they say you can plant 9 seeds per square foot so that would be 144 plants in a 4'x4' plot. That seems excessive to me so I'm asking how other gardeners plant them. I'm also planning on planting in two stages, about three weeks apart.
Thanks,
Dan

[imafan26]

The real difference between bush beans and pole beans that I can see is that bush beans tend to give you the whole crop all at once, while the pole beans give you a few at a time over a longer time. I usually only plant 9, but then I really don't use a lot of beans. 9 is what fits nicely in my 18 gallon tomato pot.

[applestar]

Yes if you want to use the “square foot“ planting spacing you need a well prepared bed and I think to more depth than they say — so think 12” or more.

Maybe you could plant the squares in two stages in a checkerboard pattern?

[mr.greenjeans]

Thanks for the replies. My soil is 10" deep, the frame is 11 1/2". I'm thinking that I'll plant 7 rows, 6" apart, with seed spacing of 3". That will give me about 105 plants in a 4'x4' plot. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks,
Dan

[Gary350]

I always plant bush beans in rows 4" between seeds and rows 4" apart. I plant 8 rows of beans 20 ft long in a patch 3'x20' with seeds that equals 480 seeds. I get 2 bushel baskets heaping full of beans. If you plant beans in the hot sun they produce less beans. In late July & August 95 degree hot sunny weather beans don't do much. BUT if you plant beans on the east side of a 40 ft tall shade tree so beans get morning sun coolest part of the day then full shade after 12 noon until dark they produce beans all summer until frost kills them in November. I usually get 2 bushel baskets of beans in a few weeks then I have all the beans I want so I let the rest go to seed so I have seeds to plant next year. In winter when it is 20 degrees and snowing outside I can watch TV and shell beans in the living room.

ADVANTAGES OF BUSH BEANS. Bush beans make many times more beans than pole beans and you don't need poles. You don't have to put up poles. You don't have to take down pole. Thunderstorm will not blow down your poles. You don't have to clean dead vines off of poles. You don't have to store poles somewhere all winter. You don't have to replace damaged & old rotten poles.

[imafan26]

Getting the right beans do matter. I can grow Kentucky Wonder and bush Blue lake beans, but they do not produce as well in the heat as Poamoho and they don't like humidity. They are more prone to rust. It will also depend on the kind of beans you like. The round podded beans are good for canning.

Here people like the flat podded beans better than the round podded beans. Greencrop, Roma II, and Poamoho.

Contender and Emerite are round podded beans with a good beany flavor and they are heat resistant.

Since you are in the North you may want a bean that is early maturing as well. Contender comes in around 45 days almost a week earlier than most of the other beans at 50-55 days.

[mr.greenjeans]

I plan on planting Contender beans. I had a regular garden ( not a raised bed) for many years and Contender always did well. On the old garden, I planted 3 rows, 9' long on a 45 square foot plot. Probably around 100 seeds.It amazes me that I can plant that same amount of seeds on a 16 square foot plot in a raised bed. I do amend my soil every year with some organic compost and composted cow manure. Probably 60% of the soil is good ol' Iowa black dirt. I fertilize with organic 3-4-4 fertilizer ( I know beans don't like a lot of nitrogen). Thanks for the replies! Talking about my garden is helping me cope with the lousy weather we are having here. Got about 5" of snow today. Spring can't come soon enough.
Thanks,
Dan

[PaulF]

We are planting bush beans in a raised bed garden for the first time this year. We have always planted bush beans in-ground. Our experience with bush beans is that they produce continuously all summer long until excess heat slows them down. Thanks for the tips on raised bed growing. We will see how it goes.