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Last edited by shiny on November 08, 2026. View history

Dragon Tongue Bean

Also known as dragon tongue shelling bean (en)

A variety of bean

1
planting
0
harvests
0
seed packets
Growstuff is a free, community-run site for people who grow food. Keep track of what you plant and harvest, find seeds to swap, and see what is growing near you. Join to record your own dragon tongue beans.

Dragon tongue bean facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less
Optimal temperature 16–25 °C
Absolute temperature 7–32 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall 500–2000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 300–4300 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH 5.5–7.5
Absolute soil pH 4–9
FAO EcoCrop

Crop cycle

50–270 days
FAO EcoCrop

Max altitude

3000 m
FAO EcoCrop

Optimal light

very bright to clear skies
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?

A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.

Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.

For dragon tongue bean, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 7°C and a shortest growing cycle of 50 days at its best temperature, about 675 growing degree days to a first harvest.

Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your dragon tongue bean will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.

Growing dragon tongue beans

  1. Dig the bed and add compost 1 week before sowing
  2. Put up supports for climbing beans 1 week after sowing
  3. Water regularly at sowing every week
  4. Weed carefully 3 weeks after sowing every 2 weeks
  5. Pick beans regularly at first harvest every week
  6. Leave some pods to dry for seed 6 weeks after first harvest
  7. Pull out finished plants and dig in the roots 8 weeks after first harvest

How members grow dragon tongue beans

Sunniness

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Planted from

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Photos

Dragon tongue bean crops

Dragon tongue bean plantings

Dragon Tongue Bush Bean
Dragon Tongue Bush Bean
by cropbot
Bean Flower
Bean Flower
by cropbot

Dragon tongue bean harvests

dragon's tongue
dragon's tongue
by cropbot
Beans
Beans
by cropbot

Dragon tongue bean seeds

Video

Where dragon tongue beans grow

Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.

What people are saying about dragon tongue beans

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Image of dragon tongue bean

Who's planted dragon tongue beans

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Dragon tongue bean harvests

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Find dragon tongue bean seeds

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Time to harvest

If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 50 to 270 days.

From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.

Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Family / Taxonomy Magnoliopsida
Rosidae
Fabales
Leguminosae
Life form herb
Life span annual
Habit prostrate/procumbent/semi-erect
Optimal soil depth medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil texture medium, organic
Optimal soil fertility moderate
Optimal soil drainage well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)
Photoperiod short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours)

Learn more about dragon tongue beans

Resources outside Growstuff.