Crop guide
How to grow lima beans
How to grow lima beans means matching cited type, spacing, and soil notes to your bed, keeping sources separate by geography. There is no single trick. This page does not replace the beans hub.
Growing guidance is general information. Timing, spacing, and care depend on cultivar, weather, soil, and local conditions. Check the sources and adjust the plan for your garden.
Steps (range, not a promise)
- 01Read cited names and types — they are not one BioArva average.
- 02Match spacing and soil notes to the sheet for your geography.
- 03Log the bed so next season is not a guess.
Lima beans in a home garden bed.
The season, on your ground
Save this bed — freeWhat the sources say — at a glance
One source per card. Facts are not averaged.
UMN Extension (Minnesota)
Phaseolus lunatus. Pole or bush. Coarser-textured, sandier soil.
Details and limits (2)
Types
UMN Extension (Minnesota): lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) are grown as pole or bush plants. Lima bean plants grow in a coarser-textured, sandier soil.
Limit
Minnesota beans sheet. Lima identity only — not the snap-bean hub.
Maryland Extension (Maryland)
Bush or pole types. Bush lima 4 in × 18–30 in. Pole 4–8 in × 24–36 in. Six hours sun.
Details and limits (4)
Types
Maryland Extension (Maryland): lima beans are available in bush or pole types. Type class on their beans sheet — not a cultivar mill.
Spacing
Maryland Extension (Maryland): bush limas 4 inches in-row by 18 to 30 inches between rows. Pole beans 4 to 8 inches in-row by 24 to 36 inches between rows. Maryland spacing — not a national formula.
Sun
Maryland Extension (Maryland): full sun requires at least 6 hours direct light per day; prefers 8 to 10 hours per day. Maryland light — not a BioArva climate zone.
Limit
Maryland beans sheet. Lima clauses only — not snap-bean spacing.
Illinois Extension Hort Answers (Illinois)
1 in deep. Bush 2–4 in, rows 18–24 in. Pole 4–6 in, 30–36 in or hills.
Details and limits (2)
Spacing
Illinois Extension Hort Answers (Illinois): plant seeds of all varieties one inch deep. Plant seeds of bush beans 2 to 4 inches apart in rows at least 18 to 24 inches apart. Plant seeds of pole beans 4 to 6 inches apart in rows 30 to 36 inches apart, or in hills of four to six seeds, 30 inches apart, with 30 inches between rows. Illinois spacing — not a national formula.
Limit
Illinois Hort Answers beans page. Cultivar list stays off this hub.
Clemson HGIC 1302 (South Carolina)
No lima-bean growing note on this hub.
Details and limits (2)
Types
Clemson's HGIC 1302 is a snap-bean sheet and does not provide a lima-bean growing note for this hub.
Limit
South Carolina HGIC 1302. Snap beans stay on the beans hub.
Make it yours
Save the bed in the Field Book so next season is not a guess.
Sources differ
Verified suppliers only
No supplier on this page
When a partner is listed, it will be outbound and disclosed. Nothing to buy here. Fertilizer, soils, and pesticides stay off this slot.
What to record in the Field Book
Save the bed with the crop and the date. You may add a photo and notes. Compare entries you have recorded with each other — not with a diagnosis from this page. If you want an identification, bring the record to local Extension.
How we know — methodology. Ranges and assertions are cited per source, not blended.