Growing Guide and Plant Care for Pinto Beans

Pinto beans are the most popular dried bean in the United States. One hundred million pounds of the speckled pinto beans are imported into Texas alone. With the right growing conditions and plenty of sun, you can grow your own pinto beans right in your backyard garden. If you have a large enough space to grow a serviceable quantity, pinto beans can be a delicious staple for your self-reliant homestead to enjoy in a variety of recipes year-round.

This guide provides everything you need to know to grow an abundance of pinto beans during your next growing season.

How to Plant Pinto Beans

Planting beans is simple and satisfying enough to be used for kids’ science projects. The beans are easy to handle, absorb moisture, germinate quickly, and then pop up a large, recognizable leaf. 

Choose a location that is protected from excess wind and where beans have not been grown in the past three or four rotations. Pinto beans are excellent companion plants to corn, squash, cucumbers, strawberries, and more, as they fix nitrogen in the soil for their neighbors to use, but they do not get along well with onions or garlic.

Growing From Seed

Once soil temperatures reach about 60 degrees F, beans should be planted directly in the soil, about 1-2 inches deep, with the "eye" facing down, and about 4-6 inches apart in 21-30 inch rows. While they do benefit from good air circulation, pinto bean plants may be less productive when planted below the recommended density.

Because legumes add nitrogen to the soil, they are more effective when seeds are treated with specific bacteria when planted. These bacteria help roots form the nodules that deliver nitrogen to the soil and neighboring plants. At planting time, presoak beans and then roll them in inoculant or sprinkle inoculant into the soil when sowing the seeds.

Pinto beans do best when planted directly in the soil, so unless you have an extremely short growing season, starting indoors is not recommended.

Pinto Bean Care

Beans are low-maintenance crops, but monitor regularly for pests and for water pooling around plant roots.

Light, Soil, and Nutrients

Pinto beans grow best in full sunlight. Avoid soil with too little iron and too much phosphorous, especially in alkaline soils, soil with poor drainage, or locations with a notable slope.

Water

Bean plant roots are fairly shallow and will absorb most of their water from the top 18 inches of soil. Shallow soil, with hardpan or clay underneath, should not be over-watered, as beans that have excess water around their roots are susceptible to diseases. Water regularly through vegetative and flowering phases, then cutting off irrigation as the bean pods begin to fill out, because the plant will no longer be taking up water. Do not apply overhead watering in the evening, as moisture that accumulates on leaves can attract diseases.

Temperature and Humidity

Pinto beans, like other beans, are not frost-tolerant and prefer warm soil for germination. Their later development can be stunted by extremely hot weather.

Common Pests and Diseases

Monitor your beans for their typical pests and pathogens. Since pests can more easily find large areas of a single, desirable plant, try interplanting or creating a border with a trap crop such as nasturtiums. Bean leaf beetle, whiteflies, and stinkbugs are commonly known for bothering planted beans; mold rust can also severely damage the plants and reduce yields. Mold can be addressed with a foliar fungicide.

Pinto Bean Varieties

There are roughly four types of pinto bean plants: determinate bush varietals, upright indeterminate, climbing/pole indeterminate, and prostrate indeterminate. The terms "determinate" and "indeterminate" are most often used to describe tomato varieties, but they also apply to beans.

Upright varietals are easiest to harvest by machine, but trellised pole beans are easiest on a gardener’s back and knees. Prostrate types require no trellising but are susceptible to fungal diseases in wet weather.

• Hopi Black: Excellent for drier lands, these bushy pole beans have been grown by Hopi farmers in northern Arizona for centuries. They grow colorful pods that reveal black-and-cream-colored beans.
• Alubia Pinta Alavesa: This dark red speckled pinto bean with a buttery texture comes from the province of Álava in the Basque Country (Euskadi), where is it celebrated each fall with its own fair. 

How to Harvest, Store, and Preserve Pinto Beans

Beans are ready to harvest when the pods are yellow to tan in color, dry, and just starting to crack open. Pick them before the plant succeeds in popping seeds out and into the soil. Determinate plants can be uprooted and hung up to dry. For indeterminate varietals, pick the pods and lay them on a tarp or screen to finish drying. 

Threshing beans, crushing the dry pods, can be done by wrapping the pods in a tarp or a pillowcase and stomping on them or by popping them open by hand and then blowing away the debris. Check for bugs and ugly beans before storing.

Dried beans should be stored in a clean, airtight container at a cool temperature. Canning your own cooked beans should only be done with a pressure canner.