Vigna radiata
Mung bean
Common names: Mung bean, Lunjab bean
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 10 cm, rows 40 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- May–Jun
- Harvest
- Aug–Sep
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 2 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Ivar Leidus · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The mung bean, botanically Vigna radiata, originates from South Asia and is a leguminous plant. It forms mostly bushy, slightly climbing stems with trifoliate leaves and small yellow flowers from which slender, hairy pods develop. It is best known for its small green seeds, which are excellent for sprouting. The sprouts are often mistakenly sold as soy sprouts, although they are botanically mung bean sprouts. As a heat-loving plant it requires a sunny, sheltered spot and a long frost‑free season. Like many legumes, it fixes nitrogen in the soil through root nodules, making it a good cover crop for heavy feeders.
Care instructions
Keep the soil evenly moist but not waterlogged, as mung beans prefer warm, slightly damp conditions rather than wet ones. When the plants reach 15 to 20 cm tall, mound the soil slightly to provide support and root space. A fleece can help protect the heat-loving plant during cool nights below 10 °C. Harvest the pods continuously once they turn brown, as the plant will produce new pods for weeks thereafter.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMay–Jun
HarvestAug–Sep
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 15 °C, ideally 25 °C
- Days to sprout
- 4 to 8 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 3 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, sandy, lean, dry
The mung bean likes loose, well-drained soil that reliably carries off waterlogging. A sandy-loamy site with a moderate nutrient content is quite enough for it, because like many legumes it supplies itself with nitrogen through its root nodules. Heavy, compacted soils are best loosened with some sand or mature compost before you sow.
Grow mung beans on the same plot again after 4 years at the earliest, so that no legume diseases build up in the soil. The nitrogen nodules left behind benefit the following crop directly.
Feeding
Light feeder
As a light feeder and nitrogen fixer, the mung bean needs hardly any extra feeding. A thin dose of compost when preparing the bed in spring is entirely enough. Avoid nitrogen-heavy feeding, otherwise it grows lots of green leaf at the expense of the pods.
Overwintering
The mung bean is an annual, warmth-loving summer plant and does not survive frost in Central Europe. After harvest in late summer, clear the plants completely from the bed; you are welcome to leave the roots with the nitrogen nodules in the soil. For next year you need fresh seed or seeds you have harvested yourself and stored dry.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
Propagation works exclusively by seed. Sow only after the last frosts, directly into a warm outdoor bed, or start it off from mid-May · week 20, because the mung bean likes it constantly warm and does not tolerate root disturbance from late potting on. The seeds germinate quickly at soil temperatures from about 18 degrees. Ripe, dry pods also give you your own seed for the next season.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
cabbage family (Brassicaceae)
particularly well establishedLeguminous plants collect nitrogen in the soil, from which Brassicaceae benefit as heavy feeders.
For example White cabbageKohlrabiRadishKalebroccolicauliflower and 41 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
carrot family (Apiaceae)
Peas and beans provide carrot and celery with nitrogen and grow as shallow-rooted plants without competition next to each other.
For example CarrotCeleriacDillParsleyFlorence fennelCoriander and 21 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
Rather not
amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae)
particularly well establishedAllium species inhibit the nitrogen‑fixing rhizobia of legumes through their root exudates, which slows their growth.
For example GarlicOnionLeekChivesWild daffodilRocambole and 12 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop‑rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Mung bean yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
Free, no time limit
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