How to Grow Winged Beans UK

Quick Facts

Factor	Value
Soil pH	5.5 - 7
Optimal growing temp	25-32°C
Soil texture	A range of soil types; tolerates heavy soils but dislikes wet soils
Drainage	Well-drained; intolerant of waterlogging
Lifecycle	Perennial climbing or twining herb, usually grown as a frost-tender annual.

Soil & Growing Conditions

Water: High; requires at least 1000 mm annual rainfall

Soil pH range

5.5 7

Span reflects genuine variation between the cited authorities, not a single agreed figure.

Harvest & Storage

When to pick: Seedlings emerge 5-7 days after sowing and flowering begins about two months later, though some local cultivars take five months. Pods reach full length about 20 days after pollination and mature about 65 days after pollination; they are eaten young, well before that.

Winged bean through the season

The four-winged pod

Square in cross-section with four frilled wings, 6-40 cm long. Nothing else looks like it.

Early growth

Seedlings emerge 5-7 days after sowing. The plant is a perennial climber grown as an annual.

Needs support

Stems reach 4 m, so a trellis is not optional.

The flower

Blue, mauve, creamy or reddish. Flowering begins about two months after sowing.

Flowering on the vine

A quantitative short-day plant needing about 12 hours to induce flowering, which is the real obstacle at northern latitudes.

Pod set

Pods reach full length about 20 days after pollination and are eaten well before maturity.

Ready to pick

PROTA is candid that the pods are tender but insipid, and less appreciated than French or yardlong bean.

In full crop

Almost the whole plant is edible: pods, leaves, flowers, seeds and, in some regions, tuberous roots.

Left for seed

Pods mature about 65 days after pollination. The seed is protein-rich, comparable to soya.

Always cooked

Raw seeds carry potent proteinase inhibitors and must be properly cooked before eating.

What the research guides add

Winged bean has an unusual timing problem: it flowers only as the days shorten, yet it cannot take frost.

• A climbing plant similar in growth habit to the ordinary garden pole bean, grown as a good soil-nitrifying legume; some varieties produce a large tuberous root eaten cooked and raw in Asia. (UF/IFAS Extension)
• Winged bean tubers average 20% protein, compared with under 7% for potatoes and yams. (UF/IFAS Extension)
• Most varieties need short days to start flowering but are frost sensitive, so in South Florida they must be grown through the winter; farther north, the shorter days of late autumn give the best results. (UF/IFAS Extension)
• Prepare the soil, plant the seed and care for the plants as for pole beans. Seed is not easy to find, though some catalogues advertise it. (UF/IFAS Extension)

Sources for this section

• University of Florida IFAS Extension: HS561 Bean, Winged

Section researched and checked on 25 October 2026 by the SoilCommander Editorial Team. How we check facts: editorial policy.

References

1. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA) - Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (PROTA)
2. Useful Tropical Plants (tropical.theferns.info) - Psophocarpus tetragonolobus

2 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.