Yard-Long Bean

Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis

Fabaceae (Legume)

A cowpea cousin that makes foot-long pods in the dead of Texas summer when regular beans give up.

EdibleAnnualFull sunHeat-loverFixes nitrogenSurvival crop

Yard-Long Bean (Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis) illustration — Texas Roots plant database, by Jordan Polasek

Sun

Full sun

Water

Moderate

Soil

Average

pH

6.0–7.0

Hardiness

Warm-season annual

Height

Vining 8–12 ft

Spacing

6 in

Days to harvest

60–80

What it is

Yard-Long Bean (Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis) is in the Fabaceae (Legume) family. A cowpea cousin that makes foot-long pods in the dead of Texas summer when regular beans give up.

How to grow it

It wants full sun, water it moderate, and give it average soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–7.0. Space plants about 6 in apart. Expect roughly 60–80. Warm-season annual.

How it's used

Yard-Long Bean is used: fresh young pods; dry seed.

🔎 How to identify it

Three-leaflet leaves
Pale flowers
Extremely long slender pods

Edibility

PartsPods and seed

UsesFresh young pods; dry seed

CautionNone.

🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.

Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.