Green bean · Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

When to plant green beans in Zürich

Main outdoor window

25 Apr - 9 May

The window this page is built around.

Timed from last spring frost

18 April

In Zürich, on your chosen risk.

Ready to pick

14-24 Jun

If you plant at the start of the window.

The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.

Cautious Balanced Bold

Step by step in Zürich

Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.

Sow direct

25 Apr - 9 May

One week after your last frost.

Harvest

14-24 Jun

Sow in succession. A single sowing gives you a single glut. Sow a short row every 14 days through the window above and you get a steady supply instead.

Frost tolerance

Tender

Damaged below

0°C (32°F)

Days to maturity

50–60

Min soil temp

15°C (59°F)

Spacing

15 cm

Sowing depth

30 mm (1.2 in)

Sun

Full

Green beans through the year

Against the frost risk in Zürich

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Green beans

Frost risk Sow direct Harvest Today

Why these dates

Sow a short row every two weeks from one week after last frost until ten weeks before first frost. Beans crop heavily for a fortnight then decline, so succession matters more than quantity.

Beans are killed by the lightest frost at any stage. They also germinate poorly below 15C, so patience in spring pays.

Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Green beans are timed for direct sowing 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Zürich.

The median frost-free season here is 203 days, against 50 to 60 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.

See every crop timed for Zürich →

Nearby

Green beans in places close by

Freiburg 87 km Strasbourg 148 km Stuttgart 164 km Karlsruhe 183 km Augsburg 208 km Milan 217 km

Also in Zürich

Other vegetables to time

Tomatoes tender Lettuce half hardy Potatoes half hardy Courgettes tender Sweet peppers tender Carrots hardy Cucumbers tender Peas hardy Garlic very hardy Chilli peppers tender Sweetcorn tender

Growing green beans in Zürich

When should I plant green beans in Zürich?

Aim for 25 Apr - 9 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 6-20 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.

When will green beans be ready to harvest in Zürich?

Expect to start picking around 14-24 Jun, based on 50 to 60 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.

How much frost will green beans tolerate?

Beans are killed by the lightest frost at any stage. They also germinate poorly below 15C, so patience in spring pays.