As a side, in a stew, or mixed in rice–beans are one of the most flexible and sustainable plants on earth. Which explains why they are a staple crop worldwide and easy to grow beans in your apartment. They even have their own song, that we all learn at a young age.
“Beans, beans, good for the heart. The more you eat, the more you…need to plant in your indoor garden.“
Okay, maybe that’s not exactly how it goes. But, growing beans can be very rewarding to grow. And they can provide plenty of delicious and nutritious food throughout the fall and winter.
This guide will explain how to grow mung beans, green beans, and red beans indoors. By the end you can supplement your food when you grow beans in your apartment!
First, a Brief History of Beans
Beans are one of the longest cultivated plants in history. The earliest accounts date back to the seventh millennium BCE and are even mentioned in the Iliad (written in the 8th century BCE). Today, they still play a massively important role as a source of protein in many cultures.
The word “bean” dates back before the 12th century in West Germanic languages. It referred to chickpeas, broad beans, and other pod-borne seeds. Since then, it’s become a more general term used to various seeds and pods of similar shape and size.
Beans are considered a summer crop and require warm temperatures to grow. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that beans can only grow outdoors. In fact, growing them in pots indoors is quite simple! So easy to grow beans in your apartment.
Mung Beans
Archaeological sites in India have discovered traces of mung beans dating back more than 4,500 years ago. The mung bean (Vigna radiata) is a plant species of Fabaceae–commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family. Mung beans are also known as green grams. It’s an annual vine with yellow flowers and fuzzy brown pods. Young stems grow green or purple, and mature stems are brown or grayish-yellow. Consumable parts include the seeds and sprouts.
Mung beans are used in savory and sweet dishes depending on the region. In India, they are used for sweets, snacks, and savory dishes. For other parts of Asia, they are used in cakes, noodles, soups, and sprouts. In America and Europe, mung beans are also used as fresh bean sprouts.
Mung beans provide an excellent source of plant protein where meat is lacking or where people are mainly vegetarian.
One of the more recent appearances of mung beans was in an episode of season 3 of The Office, where Creed keeps mung beans in his desk at work as a nutritious snack. So easy to grow beans in your apartment!
Flavor and Benefits
When eaten raw, mung beans have a vegetable taste that is crisp and clean, with slightly earthy undertones. When cooked, they turn somewhat sweet and nutty. Overall, mung beans offer a subtle flavor, milder than most legumes. This leads to their versatility and why they work well in both savory and sweet dishes.
Health Benefits of Mung Beans
- Rich in vitamins and minerals, including fiber, protein, vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6, and selenium
- High in antioxidants, which may reduce inflammation
- Help protect against heat stroke, high body temperatures, and thirst
- Lower “bad” LDL cholesterol, reducing heart disease risk
- Aid indigestion
- Lower blood sugar levels
- High in folate, which can support a healthy pregnancy
- Highly versatile, making them easy to add to your nutrition
Contrary to a quote from Creed in The Office, mung beans do not actually “smell like death.” If they do, it means they’ve gone bad, and you should trash them.
How to Grow Mung Beans Indoors
Mung beans can be eaten as fully grown beans or earlier as sprouts.
To grow full-sized mung bean plants:
- Grab a large pot that is at least five inches deep. A deeper pot or planter is even better to allow room for the long root system.
- Fill the pot with well-drained, loamy, and sandy soil. It should be slightly acidic with a neutral (6.6–7.3) pH level.
- If using fertilizer, mung beans grow best in low-nitrogen mixes (5-10-10). Every two weeks, a small amount will work best during the growing season.
- Mung bean seeds should be planted one inch deep and about two inches apart from each other.
- Place pot in a brightly lit area that gets 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day. Beans also need to stay warm (over 60 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Water your plant often enough to keep the soil moist, but do not overwater. Avoid wetting the foliage.
- As your beans grow, provide stakes or a trellis for support.
- Harvest your beans after about 90-110 days, or when the plant reaches about 16 to 20 inches in height.
- Dry your beans by removing the entire plant and hanging it upside in a warm, dry, and dark location for a few days.
- Once the beans are dry, they can be stored in airtight containers.
Like all beans, you can soak them before cooking, if you wish. However, mung beans don’t require soaking. Cook mung beans the same way you’d cook any other beans. You can even save some of your mung beans to plant next season.
To grow mung bean sprouts:
- Soak mung beans in cool water for 8 to 12 hours.
- Drain the water and transfer the beans into a jar. Use cheesecloth to cover the opening.
- Keep the jar in a dry and dark location.
- Rinse and drain the beans in water twice daily.
- After the beans have short roots, you can put them in the refrigerator to stop the growing process.
- Bean sprouts can be eaten without cooking.
Care Tips
Beans are typically very hardy plants, so you shouldn’t run into too many issues.
- Blight, root rot, and stem rot can happen from overwatering.
- Ensure beans stay in a warm spot and get plenty of sun throughout the day.
- Or use grow lights.
- Be sure to provide the plant with support.
Green Beans
Green beans (along with navy, black, and kidney beans) originated in Peru thousands of years ago. Most commonly eaten today, the stringless green bean was first bred in 1894. As of 2018, more than 24 million metric tonnes of green beans are produced worldwide. There are over 130 varieties of edible pod beans, and dozens of “green” bean varieties are grown in vegetable gardens.
Green beans grow two ways–on a bush or vine.
Flavor and Benefits
Many people describe the taste of green beans as “green,” which obviously isn’t a flavor but more likely attributed to their fresh, earthy flavor. When eaten raw, green beans taste very similar to grass, and their texture is very crunchy and snappy. When cooked, they become soft and sweeter. Like most beans, green beans tend to “soak” in other flavors, so most choose to cook green beans in stocks, stews, or with herbs and spices like garlic or salt. Tasty and healthy when you grow beans in your apartment.
Health Benefits of Green Beans
- Rich in fiber, antioxidants, and many vitamins (including A and C) and minerals
- Low in calories
- Full of antioxidants that aid in heart health and digestion
- High in folate, which is an essential vitamin for women who are pregnant
Green beans are considered a staple food worldwide, thanks to their high nutritional value and flexibility in cooking.
How to Grow Green Beans Indoors
- Choose either a bush or vine variety of green bean seed.
- If bush, choose a big round pot.
- If vine, choose a long, rectangular planter.
- Fill your chosen planter with a rich potting mix full of organic material.
- Green beans do well in a sandy mixture, with a slightly acidic pH level.
- Plant seeds about one inch deep and two inches apart.
- Provide the pot with a warm spot (over 60 degrees Fahrenheit) that gets at least six hours of sun a day.
- Green beans can grow 1 to 3 feet high and provide staking as necessary, depending on the variety.
- Green beans can be harvested about 45-75 days after sowing.
Unlike other beans, you don’t want to wait until green beans are dried out. You want to pick them when they are tender and not entirely produced.
Harvest Tips for Green Beans
- Pick green beans in the morning, when their natural sugars are highest.
- Pick them often to encourage more growth.
- Pods should be about the thickness of a pencil–firm and snappable.
- Snap or cut beans at the plant, careful not to tear the plant. Ready-to-pick beans should snap off easily.
- If the seeds inside are bulging through the pod, you’ve waited too long, and the beans will taste tough.
How to Store Green Beans
- Store beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator
- Over time, the beans will toughen
- Beans can be kept fresh for about four days
- You can also blanch the green beans and freeze them immediately
- You can pickle green beans
- Or can them to help them last longer
Care Tips
The main concern with any type of bean is lack of sun and too much moisture.
- Give your green beans at least six hours of sun per day.
- Keep them warm, over 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Keep the soil moist but not wet.
- You can fertilize your beans, but it’s not always required.
- You can keep some green beans to plant next season.
Red Beans
Kidney beans and red beans are very similar and often used and spoken of interchangeably. But, they are actually two different types of beans. Kidney beans are larger and have a darker shade of red. Red beans are smaller–a more classic “bean” shape–and a lighter shade of red. Red beans also have a “beanie” taste.
For the sake of this guide, we are discussing red beans and how to grow beans in your apartment.
Flavor and Benefits
Red beans are used throughout Japanese, Korean, and Chinese cuisine, particularly as a paste. They are commonly called chili beans in American cuisine.
Red beans taste similar to sweet potatoes. They are said to be creamy with earthy notes. When made into a paste, they taste even sweeter. As they cook, the natural sugars break down and really accentuate their “bean” flavor.
Health Benefits of Red Beans
- Rich in protein and fiber, as well as other vitamins and minerals
- Low in calories and fat
- High in iron, magnesium, phosphorous, and folate
- High in “good” carbs, which helps regulate blood sugar
- High in antioxidants and other cancer-reducing components
Eating just three cups of beans or other legumes each week can provide many nutritional benefits.
How to Grow Read Beans Indoors
- Red beans grow on a vine, so it’s best to plant them in rows. A narrow, rectangular pot may be better to use than a round one.
- Fill with well-draining, moderately fertile soil. The ideal pH level is between 6.0-7.0.
- Plant dry beans or seeds (with the eye facing upward) about one inch deep and 4 to 6 inches apart. It’s best to provide room between each vine to increase air circulation and reduce mildew or mold growth.
- Water the soil immediately, and keep the soil moist but not overly wet.
- Put the pot in a sunny spot that gets at least six hours of sun per day.
- Sprouts should be visible in 7 to 10 days.
- Use stakes or a trellis as they grow to support the vine.
- Harvest beans after about 80-95 days.
Red beans should be harvested when they are fully mature and dry. To provide extra drying, take the entire bean plant out of the planter and hang it upside down in a dark, dry, warm spot for a couple of days. Once they’ve hardened completely, pick the beans out of the pods. Beans can be stored in an airtight container.
Care Tips
Growing red beans is similar to growing other beans.
- Provide at least six hours of sunlight per day or use grow lights to compensate.
- Keep soil and pot in a warm location (over 60 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Water regularly, but just enough to keep the soil moist, not wet.
- Once established, red beans do not require fertilization.
Beans make a great addition to any indoor garden. They provide a ton of green, and who doesn’t love ending the growing season with a bounty of fresh, homegrown food to enjoy? Also, since most beans are grown similarly, you can explore producing the three listed in this guide or countless others. It should now be easy to grow beans in your apartment.
We hope you enjoy your magical fruit!