When to Plant Yardlong Beans? A Complete Guide to Planting Time and Methods

Yardlong beans are an annual vegetable of the genus Vigna in the family Fabaceae, order Rosales. Also known as cowpeas, long cowpeas, and banded beans. Below we focus on the planting time and methods for yardlong beans.

Planting time for yardlong beans

Yardlong beans are generally grown in spring and in summer-autumn. Spring cultivation involves raising seedlings from late February to late March, transplanting from late March to late April, harvesting from early June to mid-August, and seed collection from late July to early August. Summer-autumn cultivation involves sowing from mid-May to early August and harvesting from early July to late October.

Planting methods for yardlong beans

1. Choosing and preparing the land

Yardlong beans have fairly strong adaptability and are not very demanding about the land, but if the soil is relatively fertile, the yield will certainly be better. When preparing the land, dig as deep as possible, and spread an appropriate amount of fertilizer as a base fertilizer while preparing the land to ensure the soil has good fertility.

2. Sowing methods

There are two sowing methods for yardlong beans. One is to dig holes at certain intervals in the prepared land, sow three to five seeds in each hole, apply fertilizer beside them, and then cover the seeds with soil. When spreading fertilizer, do not let the fertilizer come close to the seeds; if the fertilizer touches the seeds, it may burn them and reduce the germination rate. The second method is to first choose a small patch of land, sow the seeds, cover them with a layer of plastic film, and wait until the seeds sprout before removing the film. Then water them, and once the seedlings grow to five or six cm, they can be pulled up and planted at certain intervals. After planting, if there is no rain, water them, otherwise the seedlings will wither and die.

3. Field management

Watering should be done before flowering, especially for transplanted seedlings, to encourage them to grow new roots again. Yardlong bean seedlings grow as climbing plants, so to increase yield and make harvesting easier, we generally set up trellises once the seedlings grow to about thirty cm. During the flowering period of yardlong beans, fertility should be replenished, as this can increase the pod-setting rate of yardlong beans, that is, increase the yield of yardlong beans.

4. Disease prevention

Yardlong beans generally rarely develop diseases, but sometimes root rot can occur, and some pests can also appear, such as the bean pod borer and the cowpea pod borer. Therefore, during the cultivation of yardlong beans, observe carefully to see whether these conditions appear. Once they appear, treat them promptly. As for the specific pesticides, agricultural supply stores all sell them; as long as you describe the condition, they will tell you what to buy, which is very convenient.