How to Grow Lima Beans
On this page
Lima beans need real heat: sow outdoors only once all frost risk has passed and soil has warmed to at least 24°C, with best germination around 29°C — this crop performs poorly in cool seasons and needs more warmth than standard bush or runner beans.
The short answer
- Ready in
- 60–105 days
- Site
- soil pH 5.5–7
- Biggest risk
- Bean anthracnose
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus)
Also known as: sieva bean, butter bean · 12 sources cited · Verified
Quick Facts
At a Glance
Diseases
Pests
Soil & Growing Conditions
Growth Stages
Harvest & Storage
Plan your Lima Beans planting
Timing for Lima Beans follows soil temperature and frost, not the calendar date. The Global vegetable planting calendar explains the method. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Lima Bean in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
Sources
-
Sow about 3in apart, 1in deep, in rows 18-36in apart, in a warm, well-drained location, after soil reaches at least 75°F (24°C); optimal soil temperature for germination is around 85°F (29°C), optimal growing temperature 70-80°F (21-27°C). Requires more heat than standard bush beans and performs poorly in cool seasons. Pick for fresh shelling when beans are plump and bulge inside the pods.
These 3 sources are specific to this region. The full list of 12 sources behind this guide (Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Clemson Cooperative Extension, FAO EcoCrop and others) is in the references of our UK guide to lima beans; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do lima beans take to grow?
Typically 60–105 days, depending on cultivar and growing conditions.
What soil pH do lima beans need?
A pH of about 5.5–7. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
What problems affect lima beans?
Our data links 2 diseases and 13 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
This page gives you the thresholds; the planner turns them into your own calendar. It works from what you can observe and measure in your garden rather than from dates written for somebody else’s latitude.
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How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against international horticultural research and extension sources. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
Related Problem Guides
Last verified 2026-08-30
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Where To Go From Here
Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.
Keep going
Plan the next step
Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.