Butter bean
Phaseolus lunatus · Lima bean in the US
In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late March to late April, sow outside mid-May to early August, plant out early May to late May, and harvest early July to late October.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.
- Sow indoors
- late March to late April
- Sow outdoors
- mid-May to early August
- Plant out
- early May to late May
- Harvest
- early July to late October
Growing facts
- Spacing
- 10 cm apart, rows 60 cm apart
- Square foot
- 4 per square (30 cm squares)
- Sowing depth
- 2.5 cm
- Ready in
- 65 to 90 days from sowing
- Grows to
- 50 cm
- Hardiness
- Tender: killed by any frost
- Sun
- Full sun
- Crops for
- About 4 weeks
Growing tip
Sow only once the soil is properly warm, and choose quick bush varieties where summers are short.
More legumes
Where these figures come from
Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For butter bean, we used:
Grow butter bean with VegLog
Add butter bean to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.
