purple yard long bean
vigna unguiculata
Last edited on October 16, 2026. View history
Yardlong Bean
Also known as
yardlong bean (en)
bora (en)
bodi (en)
long-podded cowpea (en)
asparagus bean (en)
pea bean (en)
snake bean (en)
Chinese long bean (en)
A variety of green bean
How to sow yardlong bean: Direct seed outdoors, 8cm apart. Thin seedlings to 30cm.
Sun requirement for yardlong bean: Plant in Full Sun
The Yardlong, or Asparagus, Bean is a pole bean that produces slender, 45cm long bean pods. Beans have a nutty flavor and can be steamed, sautéed, or stir-fried. The pods can also be left on the plant to mature and then shelled and used as dried beans. Plants need to be trellised and inoculation before planting may increase yields.
- 7
- plantings
- 0
- harvests
- 1
- seed packet
Yardlong bean facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
14 weeks
median lifespan
Height × spread
270cm × 45cmRow Spacing
60cm
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 yardlong 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 yardlong 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.
How members grow yardlong beans
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Varieties of yardlong bean
Photos
Photos
Yardlong bean crops
Yardlong bean plantings
Video
Where yardlong beans grow
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What people are saying about yardlong beans
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Who's planted yardlong beans
- shiny Near the garage · Wellington, NZ
- corvi stone hill plot · salt spring island
- jelliknight Garden · Darwin, Australia
- neotoma Left flowerbed · Silver Spring, MD
- oakandsage Garden · Santa Clarita, CA
shiny
Yardlong bean harvests
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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 yardlong beans
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