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(Best months for planting Dwarf beans in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions)

• Easy to grow.
• Harvest in 55-70 days
• Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 16°C and 30°C.
• Space plants: 5-15cm

Frost tender, die off in winter. Traditionally sown in rows, dwarf beans also grow well 'broadcast' or scattered over an area. Just scatter the seed (don't worry about the odd ones which are close up). Cover with soil, potting mix, or compost and firm down with the back of a spade or rake. Grown this way the beans will mostly shade out competing weeds and 'self-mulch'.

Keep watered and watch for shield bugs and green caterpillars Pick the beans regularly to encourage new flowers. Flowering will slow right down if you let the beans get too large (hard and stringy) on the plants. For a continuous crop, plant more seed as soon as the previous planting starts to flower. Protect against snails and slugs - they will completely destroy newly sprouted beans, and will eat the leaves off grown plants.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Dwarf beans

Can be used in salads when young, blanched and cooled.
Will freeze well.

Your comments and tips

07 Mar 09 Steve (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Do dwarf beans require any framing

10 Mar 09 David (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Steve, dwarf beans are quite bushy and don't usually need any support. If you have a lot of high winds, you might need to protect them as they do tend to blow over.

29 Oct 09 Peter (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

Hi I am new to all this gardening and what to know what sort of beans are climbers, are Dwarf beans

19 Nov 09 Jessica (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

Every year I put in both runner and dwarf beans, and every year they are sucked dry by this jumping type bug that looks fluffy, but I cant seem to rid the beans of them, also a small mouth like bug. What are these things. Thank you.

20 Nov 09 Liz (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

Jessica, they sound like passion vine hoppers , see www.bonsaiforbeginners.com/passionvine_hopper.html

04 Dec 09 Daniel (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

hi i am 10 years old my dwaf beans keep always die in winter how can i stop it.

03 May 10 Debz (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

Have you heard of low boy bush type dwarf scarlet runner.

05 Dec 10 Harry (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Nobody tells you how big dwarf bean plants grow. Is it 30cm, 60 cm . . . more than that?

06 Dec 10 Liz (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Harry, they usually get to about 30-40cm.

25 Oct 11 Paul (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

Hi I have noticed that as soon as the beans come uo and show the first two leaves next the lot is gone cut of at the stalk. How do I take care of that issue.