How to grow Borlotti Bean (Barbunya)

Phaseolus vulgaris

Also called cranberry bean, Roman bean, shelling bean, climbing French bean, borlotti

🥕 Vegetable 🌱 Grown each year

A Turkish heirloom climbing borlotti with cream pods splashed with red and plump, pink-speckled beans. Shell them fresh in late summer or leave the pods to dry on the plant for winter soups and stews. It is tender to frost, so sow under cover from late April or outdoors from late May, and give it tall canes to climb.

At a glance: Sow mid May to late June, harvest from early August.

When to sow, plant and harvest

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow outdoors

Harvest

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Growing Borlotti Bean (Barbunya): what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Water regularly in dry weather, especially once flowering starts
Soil: Fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil enriched with compost · pH 6–7.5
Spacing: 20 cm apart, one plant per cane
In pots: Grows well in containers
Feeding: Dig in compost before planting; a general feed at sowing time, then a potash-rich liquid feed once flowering if growth is poor
Harvest: About 85 days from sowing
Hardiness: USDA zones 3–9
Difficulty: Easy

Step by step

Mid May – late June · 5 weeks after the last spring frost
Sow Seeds Outdoors
Once the soil has warmed, sow two beans 5 cm deep at the base of each cane and remove the weaker seedling later.
7–14 days after “Sow Seeds Indoors” · Late May – early June
Check Germination
Seedlings should appear in 7–14 days. If sown outdoors, thin to one plant per cane, 20 cm apart. Protect young plants from slugs.
3–14 days after “Plant Out” · Late May – early June
Add Support
Train up a wigwam or row of 2.4 m canes; tie young stems in to start them off, then they will twine on their own. Pinch out tips at the top of the canes.
75–100 days after “Check Germination” · Early August – early September
Start Harvesting
Pick pods for fresh beans when they are streaked red and the beans inside are plump; for dried beans leave them until the pods are papery, then shell and dry indoors before storing.
30–60 days after “Start Harvesting” · Early September – early October
Finish and Clear
Once cropping ends or before the first frosts, cut the stems at ground level, leaving the nitrogen-rich roots in the soil, and compost the top growth.