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In Today’s post, let us look into few important tips and tricks on how to grow Beans at home in pots. These gardening tips even apply to Peas or any plant from Legume family grown in containers. We also discuss some special anti-gravity tricks to get the best growth and harvest.

Growing and harvesting your own garden veggies organically without using any chemical fertilizers or pesticides gives one a huge sense of satisfaction and a healthy feeling. If you love to do edible organic gardening at home and do not have a proper ground space for growing vegetables, do not worry; you can easily grow most vegetables in containers, whether on your terrace or your balcony.
How To Grown Beans in Containers?
Beans and peas are warm-weather vegetables and can be easily grown in containers if you follow these 10 important tips and tricks.
Container Size
The minimum size of the container to grow beans and peas, especially the climber type of plant, is 15 inches in diameter and 15 inches in depth. This is the minimum size, with one plant per container. You can use a plastic pot, a cement pot, a clay pot, or even a fabric grow bag. Fabric grow bags are beneficial in space-constrained gardens because they follow the principles of air pruning, which helps in better root development in smaller containers.
Choosing the Variety
Beans can be climbers, semi-climbers, or erect bush types. If you are growing climbers, watch out for some very important tricks and concepts, such as the anti-gravity trick. There are thousands of different species of legume plants, including beans, peas, butter beans, kidney beans, and pole beans. The tips for growing these plants are common for all types of plants in the legume family.
Seed Sowing
Legumes grow best in warm conditions. The right time to plant seeds is in early or late spring when the soil temperature is 60 – 85 degrees Fahrenheit (15 to 30 Celsius). Choose a mature seed pod for planting. The best pod is one that dries on the plant. Green pods are still immature and may show poor germination results.
Sow the seeds directly in the ground or in the container you choose. The depth of sowing should not be more than 10 mm. Seeds generally germinate in 1 to 2 weeks.
Potting Soil Mix
A well-draining soil mix is crucial for healthy root development. A simple potting mix recipe for growing most vegetables in containers is: 1/3rd garden soil, 1/3rd coco-peat or peat moss, and 1/3rd compost like decomposed cow dung or vermicompost. To help with stronger root development and induce healthy flowering and fruiting, add a source of phosphorus like a handful of steamed bone meal powder or Organic Rock phosphate powder for vegan gardeners.
Sunlight / Location
Legumes need full direct sunlight of at least 6 hours for flowering and fruiting. Encourage pollinator insects like butterflies and honeybees to help with pollination. Avoid spraying chemical pesticides as this can harm pollinator insects.
Watering
Legume plants need a good supply of moisture. Daily watering is the general rule. Water deeply and thoroughly so that the entire root system is drenched. Improper or partial watering can result in flower or fruit drop-off.
Fertilizers
A handful of compost like decomposed cow dung or vermicompost once every 10 – 15 days is the minimum requirement for legumes grown in containers. You can double this frequency or amount during the flowering stage. Beans also need small amounts of calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, and other trace elements.
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Adding a source of calcium like gypsum, lime, or finely powdered egg shells to the potting mix before planting is useful. Alternatively, make a cocktail mixture of all organic fertilizers to get the maximum nutritive value. Foliar feed with an Epsom salt solution once a fortnight to supply magnesium. Use 1 teaspoon of Epsom salt per liter of water and spray more on the underside of the leaves.
Pest Control
Beans and peas are commonly affected by powdery mildew, whiteflies, mealybugs, and aphids. Prevention is best achieved by spraying neem oil once every 15 days. Use 5 to 10 ml of neem oil plus a few drops of liquid soap in one liter of water. If already affected, spray neem oil weekly or twice until all pests are eradicated. Perform a patch test on a leaf before spraying the entire plant.
Support / Staking

Support is crucial for growing beans and peas or any climbing vegetables. This assists in transporting water and nutrients along the stems to the growing tips. Keep climbers within a height of 7 – 8 feet using string net support in a sloped fashion. Use sticks or strings initially, then support the plant with a climber net. Beans naturally wind themselves around the structure for support.
Pruning or Trimming
Pruning is generally not required if the plant is branching on its own. However, remove any dead or dried leaves from the bottom parts to promote air circulation and avoid fungal disease. Beans and peas can be harvested anywhere between 50 to 60 days after planting.
Please watch a detailed video on growing beans in containers below:
Last update on 2025-02-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API