GardenBush Bean variety
Red Kidney Bean Bush Bean
✓ In your garden
Red Kidney Bean is a dry bean (bush), ready in about 102 days. Let the pods dry on the plant, then shell the beans for soups, chili, and storage. Beans are easy warm-season crops — sow the seed straight in the ground after frost (they hate being transplanted), and no support needed — it holds itself up.
“A bean grown to shell and dry for the pantry.”
Growing basics — shared by every bush bean
Red Kidney Bean grows like any other bush bean. The full picture — how deep to plant, spacing, feeding, pests, harvest — lives on the Bush Bean page so it's maintained in one place.
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Spacing (in row)
- 2–4 in
- Row spacing
- 24–36 in
- Planting depth
- 1 in
- Soil pH
- 6–7
- Water
- Moderate
What is Red Kidney Bean good for?
- Dried beansShell and store for soups and chili. Great
- Fresh shell beansShell young for a fresh side. Great
- Eaten as podsThe pods get tough — this one’s for the beans. Skip it
From how it grows — kitchens vary.
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Want the full 10/50/90% odds + nearest stations? Open the frost tool →When to plant Red Kidney Bean in your zone
Zone 6bGreenhouse or cover on: your start slides ~4 weeks earlier and your harvest stretches ~3 weeks later (shown striped).
Planting seeds straight in the ground only works where the season's long and warm — most gardeners start seeds indoors or buy young plants, or you'd pick your first tomato right as frost hits.
Comfortable — first ripe fruit lands around early Aug, well before your typical frost (~late Oct).
- Plant seeds outside
- late Apr – early May
- Growing
- early May – early Aug
- Picking
- early Aug – mid Aug
Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP above for yours.
What to plant near Red Kidney Bean — and what to keep away
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Onions & garlicTraditional
The most consistent 'no' in companion planting. Unproven, unanimous.
The badge is the honesty. Trialed = a published field trial · Practical = a real mechanism · Traditional = companion-chart lore. These pairings hold for every bush bean.
Pairings compiled from West Virginia University Extension.
Growing Red Kidney Bean — the things that trip people up
- Leave dry beans on the plant until the pods are papery and rattle, then shell and finish drying them indoors.
- A bush bean: it stays knee-high and sets its crop over a couple of weeks — sow a second batch a few weeks later for a longer harvest.
Red Kidney Bean bush bean at a glance
| Type | Dry |
|---|---|
| Grows as | Bush (determinate) |
| Days to ripe | 102 days after you plant it outside |
| Color | Red |
Extra fields from seed-catalog listings and university growing guides. Days to ripe and disease resistance shift with your climate and seed source — double-check with your local extension office before you buy.
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Common questions about Red Kidney Bean
How long does Red Kidney Bean take to grow?
About 102 days from sowing to dry, mature pods.
Is Red Kidney Bean a bush or pole bean?
A bush bean — it’s self-supporting and sets its crop in a shorter window.
Can I start Red Kidney Bean indoors?
Better not — beans resent transplanting. Sow the seed straight in warm soil after your last frost.
Browse more bush bean varieties →