How to Grow and Care Pinto Beans

Pinto bean plants are well-known for their important roles in several Latino dishes. They also offer unique nutrition and are fully grown in arid and drier climates. Pinto beans are also drought tolerant. If you’re planning to grow pinto bean plants in your home, here’s how you can do it on your own.

Preparation

When you want to plant pinto beans, you need to prepare significant certain things and that includes the soil and the pinto beans. One of the most important things that you need to consider when you want to grow pinto beans is the soil. Choose a site that fully receives sunlight. To mature the pinto beans properly, they need direct sunlight every day for at least 6 hours.

If you’re planting pinto beans, you need to choose a specific type of beans that you will plant as they come in bush or determinate and pole or indeterminate varieties. The Bush pinto bean requires little care, but needs more space. It also produces once, but doesn’t produce big yields unlike the pole pinto beans.

The pole or the indeterminate pinto beans need a trellis/stake for support. They can be grown well even if planted closer together to save a lot of space.

Planting Pinto Beans

Prior to growing, soak the pinto bean plants overnight. Sow every pinto bean one to two inches deep in the soil. The beans take eight to fourteen days to germinate so when growing the beans, make sure the soil temperature reaches seventy degrees Fahrenheit to eighty degrees Fahrenheit.

For well aeration, allow some extra space between the bush plants. When is the proper time to plant the pinto beans? The beans must be panted right after frost. Pinto beans typically need eighty to one-hundred forty days (frost-free) to mature. It is also better if you plant the beans in a black plastic with warm soil and lengthen their growing season since pinto beans don’t transplant well.

In addition, avoid planting the pinto beans very early as they don’t tolerate cool and damp roots. The pinto beans can grow well with cucumbers, strawberries and celery, but avoid planting them with garlic, onions and fennel.

Daily Care

Water sparingly. If you planted pinto beans in your garden, make sure that the spot you have chosen receives full sunlight for better results. Let the soil gets dry before watering again. The plants can grow well in drought.

When you are watering the plant, apply it directly to the soil and prevent the leaves from getting wet because it might cause mildew, same as the fungal disease. Since the beans have shallow root systems, it is best recommended to utilize organic mulch so that the soil will keep moisture.

Support and Fertilizing

The pinto beans especially the pole varieties require a trellis or stake as support while they are growing. The best time to place the support structures is before planting. To tie the pinto beans, use a soft piece of cloth so that the vines will not be damaged.

The pinto beans can benefit well from good feeding of compost tea throughout their growing season. Pale leaves mean nitrogen deficiency, so you need to utilize fish emulsions, same as the nitrogen fertilizer.