- After the bean seed is placed into the ground, it starts collecting moisture and the water content of the bean swells the bean, breaking the outer thin covering. A root is sent down once the moisture reaches about 30 percent to continue supplying moisture to the emerging plant. After enough root matter has been grown, the plant sends up a leaf to the light and this is the point of emergence.
- The plant undergoes photosynthesis along with other chemical processes and sends up a series of leaves, the first couple after the original seed being unifoliates and the rest being trifoliates. The bean plant continues to grow in leaf production for the next couple of weeks until it has reached enough growth to sustain the fruiting process.
- When the bean plant starts flowering, it has usually reached a stage where it has enough leaf cover to completely shade the flowers below. After the first blossom appears, the plant will quickly produce several more blossoms each day. They are self-pollinating and therefore do not need insects to produce fruit.
- As the flowers wilt away, immediately a small skinny bean pod will emerge and grow very rapidly. It only needs a couple of days to ripen and, if allowed, will simply stop growing and start to dry. The unripened pods are collected and eaten as green beans, while the dry beans are harvested as beans after they have been removed from their papery shell.
