Phaseolus is a genus of about 70 mostly annual or short-lived vining legumes native to the Americas, best known through the common bean, runner bean and lima bean. Grow them in warm weather in full sun with moist, well-drained soil; they fix nitrogen and are easy from seed.
Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Annual, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly at the base during dry spells, keeping soil evenly moist but not soggy.
Soil
Well-drained, fertile loam with moderate organic matter.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect from frost, which kills most species.
How easy
Easy
About
Phaseolus (bean, wild bean) is a genus of herbaceous to woody annual and perennial vines in the family Fabaceae containing about 70 plant species, all native to the Americas, primarily Mesoamerica.
It is one of the most economically important legume genera. Five of the species have been domesticated since pre-Columbian times for their beans: P. acutifolius (tepary bean), P. coccineus (runner bean), P. dumosus (year bean), P. lunatus (lima bean), and P. vulgaris (common bean). Most prominent among these is the common bean, P. vulgaris, which today is cultivated worldwide in tropical, semitropical, and temperate climates.
Where it grows
Phaseolus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including common swift, garden dart, ghost moth, Hypercompe albicornis, H. icasia and the nutmeg.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phaseolus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.