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If you soak beans before planting them, they will germinate faster and more easily. This means you can harvest your beans earlier!
This year is the first time I’ve grown beans in my garden, and I’m already in love with them. I love their hardiness and their large leaves. Especially when it seems like everything else has daintier and smaller leaves. So the pinto and kidney bean plants are really drawing my attention! They are so tall and bold.
Beans are a great addition to any vegetable garden, and some of them don’t need to be cared for all the time. After all, I do love it when you can set and forget.
Should I Soak Green Beans Before Planting? The Complete Guide for 2023
Green beans are one of the most popular vegetables to grow in home gardens. They are easy to grow productive and delicious right off the vine. But like any vegetable, there are a few tricks that can help you get the most out of your green bean crop. One question that often comes up is should I soak green bean seeds before planting?
The short answer is yes, pre-soaking green bean seeds can be beneficial Here is a complete guide to soaking green beans before planting, including the benefits, how to do it properly, and what to look out for
Why Soak Green Beans Before Planting?
Soaking green bean seeds before planting provides two main benefits:
- Faster Germination
Like many vegetables, green bean seeds have hard outer coatings. This protective layer can slow down water absorption, delaying germination. Simply soaking the seeds in water softens this outer shell so the seed inside can imbibe water faster and sprout quicker once planted.
Pre-soaked green bean seeds will germinate 1-2 weeks faster than unsoaked seeds. Quicker germination means earlier seedlings, a longer growing season, and ultimately a higher yield.
- Prevent Seed Rots
The outer seed coat doesn’t just slow water absorption, it also protects the seed from soil-borne diseases. However, sometimes fungal spores can get stuck in tiny cracks in the shell. Warm, wet conditions – like soaking – encourage these spores to activate and infect the seed.
Soaking with a fungicide like copper sulfate kills off fungal spores, preventing seed rots before planting. This improves germination rates and healthy seedling establishment.
When to Soak Green Beans
Green beans can be soaked whether planting indoors or directly outdoors.
For outdoor sowing, it’s best to soak seeds 12-24 hours before the anticipated planting date. Avoid soaking too far in advance; seeds left soaking for several days may rot before they ever get planted.
For starting seeds indoors, soak 3-5 days before sowing. This gives time for the seeds to sprout a tiny root before going into a sterilized starting mix.
How to Soak Green Bean Seeds
Soaking green bean seeds is simple:
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Fill a bowl with warm, clean water. Warm water speeds up the soaking process.
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Add a half-teaspoon of copper sulfate fungicide to kill potential fungal spores. This is optional but recommended.
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Place seeds in the water and let soak for 12-24 hours. Lentils, peas, and soybeans only need an overnight soak, while larger beans may require a full 24 hours.
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Drain, rinse well, and plant soaked seeds according to seed packet directions.
Alternatively, skip the bowl and soak seeds directly in their furrows:
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Prepare soil with proper spacing for green beans.
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Water the planting rows well before sowing seeds.
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Place seeds directly in the moist furrows as normal.
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Allow seeds to soak in place for 12-24 hours.
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Cover seeds lightly with soil, water, and watch them germinate.
Soaking in planting rows simplifies the process while still reaping the main benefits. Just be sure to water the soil first so seeds don’t dry out.
Troubleshooting Soaked Green Bean Seeds
Pre-soaking isn’t guaranteed to improve germination if not done properly. Here are some common issues and solutions:
Seeds Rotting – Avoid soaking too long before planting. Discard any mushy seeds and re-soak a new batch right before planting.
Poor Germination – Use warm water, around 80°F. Cold water won’t soften the seed coat enough and delays sprouting.
Leggy Seedlings – Don’t start soaked seeds too early indoors. Seedlings outgrow their containers and get spindly.
Damping Off Disease – Use a fungicide during soaking to prevent seedling death from fungal infection. Copper sulfate works well.
No Improvement – Some varieties naturally have high germination rates without soaking. Try soaking once to see if it helps – you can skip it next time if germination was already good.
Should I Soak Other Vegetable Seeds?
Beyond green beans, soaking can improve germination of many large seeds with hard outer coatings. Good candidates include:
- Peas
- Lentils
- Soybeans
- Corn
- Okra
- Melons
- Cucumbers
- Squash
- Pumpkins
Small seeds with softer coats like lettuce, carrots, radishes, and spinach do not need pre-soaking. Very fine seeds like leeks and onions can be damaged by excess moisture during soaking.
Take a cue from nature – larger seeds evolved to resist damage and damp conditions as they lay dormant waiting for rain. Pre-soaking mimics spring rains to awaken seeds and stimulate sprouting.
The Bottom Line
Soaking green bean seeds for 12-24 hours before planting can accelerate germination by up to two weeks. Take advantage of this simple trick to get beans sprouting sooner for maximum yields from your garden. Just be sure to soak properly and plant immediately for success. Employ this technique with other large, thick-coated seeds as well for quicker germination across your vegetable garden.
To Soak or Not to Soak Beans
When first starting my bean seeds in little 6-cell planters, I did not soak my beans. I considered looking into whether to soak them or not, but I was impatient and didn’t want to wait. So, I emptied my little seed packet and planted one sweet seed per cell. The seed germination rate was 100%. I was so proud of myself and my new green bean plants! I always thought I had a bad green thumb. It turns out that is not true!.
The seedlings grew and leafed out really nicely.
Like I said before, I fell in love with them.
When it was time to plant my sweet pinto, kidney, and blue lake beans, I was thrilled to see how quickly they grew.
I didn’t harden them off right and probably waited too long to transplant them out. The ones that survived the transplant are definitely stunted.
So, now I will be doing the right thing.
Beans are quite finicky when it comes to their roots and are sensitive as seedlings. This is why my beans are a bit stunted. They just really don’t enjoy being moved. Especially because their natural tendency is to have shallow root systems.
Any maneuvering of the roots is a significant blow.
Types of Bean Plant Structure:
When these bean plants grow, they bush out, making bushes. These beans can stand on their own without a trellis and are usually not more than two feet tall.
Pole Beans and runner beans are essentially the same. Some people are picky about which way they climb up a trellis, but for my purposes, they are climbing beans. These beans are lovely when trellised over an arch.
Bean pods harvested in their “green” stage are called green beans, string beans, and snap beans. You can buy them in a can at the store and usually find them in the produce section. All green beans will eventually become dry beans if you let them. The longer you wait to harvest, the more fibrous and hard the pod becomes. This creates the hard shell of the dry seeds.
These are the set ’em and forget ’em plant of the garden! These are kind of like potatoes. You plant them, water them a lot, and pick them when they turn brown and fall over. These are dry beans like kidney, black, great northern, and cowpeas. The plant is ready for harvest when the outer shell is brown and dry. Then you can pluck the pods and deshell them in a nice little harvest party!.
Beans are hard seeds. This means that they have a thicker protective coating around the fragile embryo. The seed coat protects the seed from disease, injury, and from drying out. If there is enough water on the seed, the seed coat softens and the embryo can start to grow.
This is the part that I failed to focus on when dealing with these hard-shelled little seeds. When direct sowing without soaking, there is not much water to soften the outer shell. It takes and extended amount of time to get to the point where the embryo can grow. However, you can bypass this process by soaking the seed enough for the germination process to start.
It’s not good to soak for too long. More is usually better, but not here.
Depending on your water temperature, you will have a time period of 8-24 hours. That’s a very long time! Usually, the outer shell will soften faster when the water is warmer. Check on your little seeds. Once you start to feel them plump a little and soften, its time to take them out.
Depending on the water temperature, you can actually speed up the soaking process. Room temperature water will be better for a longer soaking time. 12-24 Hours is the ideal time for soaking seeds in this temperature range.
Warm water is better for a shorter soaking time. Closer to an 8-12 hour soak. Warmer water softens and penetrates the hard coat in less time than room-temperature water.
There is a possibility that you will get a faster germination rate with warmer water as well. However, I am not sure of the actual numbers behind that claim.
Just remember to use warm water and not hot water. You don’t want to cook your beans!
Soak the beans to give them a head start on life and make the bean season last longer. Keep the soil moist but not wet. The best way to tell is if the soil is dry on top but wet when you stick your finger in it a half inch or so.
If the soil is too wet, the seeds will rot and the plant will die. Wet plants after germination are also not good. You can cause the root to rot right off! I might have don’t this a time or few….
Just remember, damp soil is good. Wet soil is not good!
Based on the characteristics of the seeds, they all need different types of environments to germinate. Bean seeds actually benefit from something call scarification.
This is when a small nick or injury to the hard outer shell is present. It allows water to get past the outer shell and absorb into the inner contents of the seed.
Although this also speeds up germination, you don’t need to do it. You can do this in addition to a good soak, but not necessary.
Some seeds are more likely to get diseases when they are soaked because the water quickly breaks down the seed’s natural defenses. Bacterial and fungal infections can happen.
How I Plant my Green beans// Soak or Not Soak your Beans ??
FAQ
How long should you soak green beans before planting?
How do you prepare beans for planting?
How do you make green beans germinate faster?
What month do you plant green beans?
Should you soak bean seeds before planting?
Before planting your bean seeds, first let them sit in water for 10 – 24 hours, as this will shorten the time they need to germinate. This will enable your plants to grow more quickly while maintaining a higher level of health. There are many people who insist that we should not soak bean seeds before planting.
Can you soak green beans at room temperature?
It is best to use room temperature, clean, non-chlorinated water to soak green beans. Chlorinated water can harm the seeds and affect germination. 3. Should I change the water during the soaking process?
How do you grow beans from soaked seeds?
Place seeds in a bowl and add enough water to submerge by 2-3 inches. After soaking, rinse and drain beans very well before planting. Handle soaked seeds gently to avoid damaging sprouts. Allow soaked beans to dry slightly before planting if the soil is wet. Wait until the soil warms to at least 60°F before planting pre-soaked beans.
How do you clean a bean seed?
Place the Beans in a small bowl filled with room-temperature water. Let sit for an overnight soak. The next day, wash the seeds gently with a dilution of water and vinegar (2 cups of water to 1tablespoon of vinegar.) Let soak for 5-10 minutes. Rinse and drain the seeds. Water well daily.