Crop fact sheet · Heat season · frost tender
Yardlong (Asparagus) Bean
Not in season right now in Houston. Dates below.
Your dates in Houston
| Window | Order seed by | Start indoors | Plant | First harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | Aug 26 | — | Sep 16 – Sep 30 | from Oct 26 |
| Spring 2027 | Feb 8 | — | Mar 1 – Apr 26 | from Apr 10 |
| Fall 2027 | Aug 26 | — | Sep 16 – Sep 30 | from Oct 26 |
Worked out from AgriLife planting windows (days before/after average frost) and Houston's average frost dates. "Order seed by" is our own 3-week heads-up, not an AgriLife date.
The numbers
- How to plant
- Sow seed directly 2" deep, 10" apart, rows 42" apart.
- Days to harvest
- 40–70 days
- Sun
- Full sun
- Family
- Fabaceae (for rotation)
Water
Tolerates drought, but waterlogging is harmful (UF/IFAS). Culture is much like southern peas.
Feeding
- At planting: UF/IFAS has no specific recommendation yet; follow snap or pole bean recommendations. Rhizobium inoculation can reduce nitrogen needs.
Not sure what your soil needs? Get a soil test first.
Texas heat
UF/IFAS: tolerates high heat, humidity and drought; best growth at average monthly air temperatures of 68-86 F; cold and frost are harmful.
Pests to watch
- aphids (especially on pods)
Diseases
- powdery mildew
What to do about them: pest sheet · what's wrong with my plant?
When it's ready
Pick while pods are thinner than a pencil and still snap when bent, generally 12 to 18 inches long (LSU AgCenter; UF/IFAS says 10 to 12 inches), before seeds mature. Harvest daily; plants stop producing if beans are left to mature. Harvest usually starts about two months after sowing.
Storing it
Snap, blanch and freeze for longer storage (LSU AgCenter). No fresh-storage temperature or shelf life was found in an extension source.
Texas tips
- Planting window is borrowed from southern peas: AgriLife's Easy Gardening: Southern Peas lists 'Yard Long Beans' as a southern pea type (the only one that needs trellising), so the E-502 southern pea window applies: 2 to 10 weeks after the frost-free date in spring, 10 to 12 weeks before first freeze in fall. No AgriLife source gives a window just for yardlong bean.
- The AgriLife southern pea sheet says plant well after the last frost (March in South Texas, April or later in North Texas), with a second crop as late as July.
- LSU AgCenter (Dan Gill): a summer substitute for snap beans when it is too hot for snap beans to thrive.
- Give it a 6 to 7 foot trellis; sow 6 to 12 inches apart along a row trellis, or 3 seeds per pole on a tripod (LSU); vines can reach 9 to 12 feet (UF/IFAS).
- Seed depth: UF/IFAS says about 2 inches, LSU says about 1 inch.