The Organic
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Vegetables · Legume

Growing french beans

Phaseolus vulgaris · also called beans, faliyanA quick legume grown for its tender green pods, in bush or climbing types. It likes mild weather and drops its flowers in strong heat; frost kills it.

South interior: Bengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil Nadu

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
Green French bean pods hanging among the leaves of a staked bean plant
Photo: Forest and Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0

At a glance

French beans in the South interior

  • Season

    Bush beans sown October to November in the plains; February to March in the hills4

  • Sowing to last picking

    Bush types crop over 90 to 100 days; pole types over 90 to 110 days.4

  • Sow

    October to November4

  • First harvest

    50 days after sowing4

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Sow now

The window here is October to November.

Sowing now in:Central plateauEast coast
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Today
South interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal AndhraWest coastKerala, Goa, Konkan
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
South interiorOctober to NovemberFebruary to MarchJuly to August
Temperate HimalayaApril to JuneMarch to AprilJune
Cold desertMid-May to mid-JuneMid-July to mid-September
Sub-tropical foothillsLast week of JanuaryFirst half of FebruaryAugust to September
North-west plainsJanuary to FebruaryJuly to September
Gangetic plainsJanuary to FebruaryJuly to September
North-east hills and valleysFebruary to MarchAugust to early September
Arid westLate September to OctoberFebruary
Central plateauOctober to mid-November
Deccan plateauSeptember to October
West coastJuly to SeptemberJanuary to February
East coastOctober to November

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Farmyard manure4

    25 tonnes per hectare · Work in at the last ploughing · last ploughing

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 6 to 10

    Seeds come up1,7,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 50

    First picking4

  5. Day 90 to 100

    Last picking4

Water straight after sowing, again on the third day, and then once a week.4

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1

    5.5 to 6.8

    Grows on most soils, from sandy loam to heavy clay. Sandy and loam soils suit an early crop and heavier soils a mid-season crop. Lime the soil if the pH is below 5.5.

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the South interior, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun. Pick an open bed that gets sun for most of the day.

  • Temperature1,2

    Grows best at 15.6 to 21.1 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the South interior aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering4

Water straight after sowing, again on the third day, and then once a week.

Weeding4

Weed at 20 to 25 and 40 to 45 days after sowing and earth up after each weeding. Weed and stake pole types at 20 days.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
last ploughingFarmyard manure25 tonnes per hectareWork in at the last ploughing

Sources4

Varieties and yield

Typical range4

9 to 10 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here4,3

  • Arka Komal

    Bush; plains

  • Selection 9

    Bush; plains

  • Premier

    Bush; plains and hills

  • YCD 1

    Bush; hills

  • Ooty (FB) 2

    Bush; hills

  • TKD 1

    Pole

  • KKL 1

    Pole

  • Ooty 1

    Pole

  • Ooty 3

    Pole

  • Kashi Baingani

    Pole, purple pods; ICAR-IIVR; notified for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu among others

Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the South interior, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Keep it away from

Pests and diseases4Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Whitefly

    Signs

    Tiny white flies under the leaves suck sap; leaves yellow.

    What to do

    • Put up yellow sticky traps, smeared with castor oil, to catch the adults

  • Pest

    Pod borer

    Signs

    Larvae bore into the pods and eat the seeds.

    What to do

    • Spray a neem (azadirachtin) product three times, a fortnight apart

  • Pest

    Ash weevil

    Signs

    Grey weevils notch the leaf edges.

    What to do

    • Spray a neem (azadirachtin) product

  • Pest

    Aphids

    Signs

    Tiny soft insects on the shoots; young leaves curl and yellow.

  • Disease

    Bean mosaic

    Signs

    Leaves mottled, crinkled and curled; plants stunted.

    What to do

    • Pull out and destroy affected plants

  • Disease

    Anthracnose

    Signs

    Dark, sunken spots on pods and stems.

    What to do

    • Remove affected plants and pods

  • Disease

    Powdery mildew and rust

    Signs

    White powder (mildew) or rusty pustules (rust) on the leaves.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Grow the seed crop with the same seed rate and spacing as the market crop. Keep 5 m between two varieties.

When the seed is ready

Leave the pods on the plant until they turn dry and straw coloured and the seeds rattle.

Cleaning the seed

Pick the dry pods, shell them by hand and dry the seed in the shade for a few days.

Store fully dry seed in a sealed tin or jar in a cool, dry place. Seed with about 12% moisture germinates better.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the South interior, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

After the last picking, cut the plants at the base and dig them in or compost them. Leave the roots in the soil to feed the next crop.

After the last picking, cut the plants at the base and dig them in or compost them. Burn or bury plants that died of wilt or root rot.

Rotation

Where wilt and root rot are a problem, follow a three year rotation with cereals.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 2Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (French bean)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  2. 3French bean varieties developed by IIVRICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, VaranasiRead the source
  3. 4Horticulture: Vegetables: French beansTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  4. 7French BeanDepartment of Agriculture, Himachal PradeshRead the source

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