I've always been reluctant to grow hyacinth beans because the pods are poisonous when raw. I always worry that I won't cook them properly and they'll still be poisonous! LOL! @ me

I think you anyways cannot eat hyacinth beans raw taste wise but yes it must be cooked. Have been eating it since a kid. The variety I grow has a slight purple tinge along the pods. The same type as in the video link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Hyacinth Beans

The fact that the raw pods and dry seeds of hyacinth bean are considered to be poisonous is not in & of itself that unusual for "edible" legumes. The developed seeds of limas are also toxic if eaten raw, as are the seeds of runner beans... and even those of common snap beans. In fact, I've had to caution several garden visitors who wanted to peel & eat large bean seeds raw, as they would favas.

I've eaten the cooked pods of several hyacinth bean cultivars. A climbing variety with dark purple pods was the best I tasted - when cooked, it was very similar to green snap beans in taste & texture. The one I grew this year has a similar flavor, but is not as thickly fleshed as the purple podded.

One drawback to this cultivar is the pod shape; because of the central bulge in the pod, it is hard to tell when the seeds have started to develop. I had to squeeze a few pods, and hold them up to the sun, to learn how the pods appear when they are ready to harvest... and when they have gone beyond that stage. Those in the foreground of the photo are in the proper stage.

I am planing to grow this beans this year as I got some seeds. What is the required spacing to plant this? Also, does it produce once or all season long?

For the bush variety above, I used about 12" between plants, in rows 24" apart. You could probably space them closer than that in the row, I think 8-9" is probably optimal. That variety is not daylength sensitive, so it will bear all summer if it is kept picked. I even let all of the first pods go for seed, and while flowering slowed down, the plants still kept producing pods until frost.

Most hyacinth beans, though, are (a) pole, and (b) daylength sensitive. You will get huge vines, but flowering will not occur until the days approach 12 hours in length. The vines are incredibly vigorous, and need a tall, strong trellis. I would recommend spacing pole hyacinth beans 12-24" apart in the row; while this may appear to be wide spacing, they will branch heavily, and the vines will form a dense mass at the top of the pole/trellis. The yield will be very heavy during the time they are blooming. I'm not sure how long blooming will continue after the equinox, since my plants are killed by frost while still in bloom.

Thanks for the info.. I was trying to PM you about plant spacing and other things but my tablet had other ideas, and I lost everythin that I wrote.. I'll try again..

Thank Zeeman; I got the seeds for bush type from India (not sure the verity name). I will follow your recommendation on spacing

Ca_garden, are your hyacinth beans from Seeds of India? They have a bush hyacinth bean that appears to be the same one I grow. There is another bush variety that was also developed in India, which I am looking for. When yours begin to bear pods, could you post a photo in this thread?

sure, I will do that. It just got germinated indoors.

Zeedman, can you share info on how you got the seeds germinated, did you sow them directly in soil or did you start the seelding indoors first?

I did order valor bean lakshmi from 'seeds of india' site and have received tiny seeds that do not look good. Someone suggested to soak the seeds first for sprouting then plant it.

Because I was not sure of their DTM, I started the seeds in peat strips. I waited until it had begun to warm here (late May) to plant them, and moved them out into sunlight as soon as they germinated. Germination was very fast for a bean, only 4-5 days. When planting beans in pots, I soak the pots over night after planting (with only enough water to saturate the soil) and pour off any excess water in the morning. Soaking the soil around the beans, rather than soaking the beans themselves, reduces the risk of one bad seed infecting the others.

If you have doubts about your seed, contact me via PM with your address, and I'd be happy to send some.

Zeedman, Thanks,I sent you a message.

That's a really lovely plant! I am growing the hyacinth bean vine (purple) for the first time this year.