Wax Beans

We’ve all seen those cans of yellow wax beans in grocery stores, but these plants are easy to grow, they add nitrogen to your soil, and the crisp sweetness of a freshly picked bean far surpasses anything canned.

Wax beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) actually refers to several different yellow-podded members of the common bean family. This family also includes lima beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, and immature ‘green’ beans. It is believed that wax beans got their name because the yellow color looks similar to beeswax, but no one is really sure. Wax beans are available in both bush and pole varieties.

Can you find the wax beans?

How wax beans grow

Beans are self-pollinating annuals. These plants are fun and rewarding to grow. They grow quickly enough to work well as a children’s activity, reaching maturity in only 60 days. What’s really fun about these plants is that they can be grown pretty much anywhere: on a windowsill, in a container, in a straw bale, and in partial shade. Of course, they prefer sunny raised beds or traditional garden rows, but, the point is, these plants are EASY.  Like other legumes, wax beans are able to ‘fix’ atmospheric nitrogen, making it available not only to themselves, but to nearby plants. Of course, this only works until the plant starts producing seeds, then the free lunch is over.

How to grow wax beans 

Like other beans, wax bean seeds are mostly endosperm (plant food). Plant seeds one inch deep and 2 to 4 inches apart. If you grow bush beans (not the canned barbecue product), your plants will get 18 to 24 inches tall and about a foot wide, so thin accordingly. Pole beans, however, can be trained up trellising, fences, lattice, sunflowers, trees, pretty much anything they can wrap their tendrils around, without thinning. They can also be used in the traditional Three Sisters Method, with corn and squash. Trellising pole beans on something that goes over your head looks really nice, with ripe beans hanging down, from overhead. It’s makes picking easy, too! Some people say that planting marigolds nearby can be a problem, claiming that they interrupt the nitrogen-fixing capabilities of legumes, such as peas and beans, but I don’t know if this is true.

Wax bean pests and diseases

When it comes to bean pests, it’s all the usual culprits: cutworms, bagrada bugs, cucumber beetles, weevils, thrips, wireworms, leaf miners, and dried fruit beetles. As delicious as fresh wax beans are, it’s no wonder so many critters are after your harvest. Bindweed can also choke out your bean plants. Common wax bean diseases include anthracnose, bean mosaic, and fusarium wilt. Wax beans should not be planted near soybeans to reduce the likelihood of stem blight.

Even this baby wax bean plant is being productive!

Harvesting wax beans

Beans are one of those edible plants that produce more food if ripe beans are harvested regularly. In other words: the more you pick, the more you get. Once picked, you can eat them fresh, steam them, add them to stir-fry, and or can them for winter eating. Wax beans are sensitive to ethylene gas, so they should be stored away from apples, bananas, and other ‘gaseous’ produce.

Plant some wax beans today!