Probably it is a bit too early for you (!) 8B/ HZ 10 ?
I am in 7B/ HZ 1 and have planted my fall beans and they have germinated. But our highs rarely goes over 80F.

But, to keep the soil cooler, while germinating, shade clothe, heavy layer of straw ... can help. It will take just about 6 days for them to germinate. After that you can still keep the mulch, by just letting the beans stick their neck out. AND water them, more often until it cools down a bit.

This was a post I did a month or so ago, asking what I could plant to fill in for my crop of basil that got pesto-ized. Many recommended beans. I was skeptical, because of the heat, but everyone said to go for it. Beans are "approved" for local planting now by my local ag school, as it turns out. So there must be a good way to do it.

The idea is to get them flowering after the worst of the heat subsides, so that they'll fruit. I'm looking at September harvest.

I planted some beans a couple of weeks ago in our 95ð weather. The whole garden is mulched with a layer of hay, and they came up just fine. I pull back a small area of mulch for each seed so the seedling doesn't have to push its way through. I haven't taken the soil temp, but I seem to recall that right around 80ð is optimum. So whatever you can do to bring a bit of soil down to that temp would help.

I don't have convenient access to straw, and newsprint is just something that has to be chucked when the first seedlings emerge, leaving the unemerged ones unprotected. Also, I'm cheap enough not to buy a few bags of much. But what I've decided to do is use leaves. Yes, in our area, the leaves fall throughout the year (well, more in December/January) but empty sheltered lots are usually covered with dried leaves. I'll do the planting, lay down some cutworm discouragement, and then go rake some leaves up and deposit an inch on top of the planting.

In fact, inspired in this way, I just today heaped some layers of dried leaves around all of my plants. As the temperatures crack the triple digit mark regularly, it's time to get serious! Now, my plot is no stranger to such mulch, I regularly dig a heap into the soil every early spring (mostly oak and cedar elm), turn once a month later, and the soil is beautiful. The leaves are completely composted and unrecognizable by April or so.

Here's a link to the Texas A&M AgriLife website. Two things to check out - "Optimal Growing Conditions" and "Establishment Methods". Soil temp needs to be 85 or less.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bean: Green/Snap

Every gardener should have a soil thermometer and use it regularly. It'd save a lot of grief.

High temps here now are ~96F, and low temps are about 74F. That would make deep soil temps about 85F, and if the soil is moist it will be cooler than that. So I think soil temp isn't a big issue here. My germination rate may not be optimal, but they'll mostly come up.

Thanks for the AgriLife link. In other places there, they recommend fall planting for beans August-September. So I think I'm (barely) good to go.

The only other thing to know about germination temperatures is that they decline extremely rapidly in hot conditions. Which means you will get a lot less germination at temps 10ð over the optimum than you do at 10ð under the optimum. Attached is a link that has a table that shows what I mean. Just for your further info. Cheers!

Here is a link that might be useful: Germination temperatures

Thanks. That's a nice compilation. Of course, I just have a 4x5 foot area, and 70+ seeds, so I figure even a 50% germination rate will fill the area just fine.

Of course, by the end of October, I have low temps dipping into the 30s and, working backward, with a 60-day time-to-first-harvest, and then a few week harvest period, that calls for planting in early August. So I don't have a big choice. Fall is short. All of August is quite hot, actually, so I think the main obstacle to production is going to be survival, rather than germination rate.

Dan, I live in east central Mississippi, zone 8A. I plant a fall crop of beans every August. Assuming you plant in well amended soil, with a good watering each day, you shouldn't have any problems getting them up. If you do, try laying fabric (any kind) over the rows and water through the fabric. This keeps the moisture in the soil longer and always does the trick for me with any kind of seed. Have never needed it for beans, though. Just keep an eye on the seeds under the cloth and uncover them when you see them coming up. Since you're further south, you could wait till mid or late month if you want. You should still have plenty of time to make a good crop.

Thanks, Donna. Watering through fabric is a good idea. I am a little worried about cutworms, though. But I'll put down my cutworm-i-cide on the rows before the cover goes on, I guess.

Actually, I just realized that I have a mounted 4x5 foot solar screen that will fit perfectly over the patch, propped up in the corners on bricks. So in addition to fabric that will keep the moisture in, this solar screen will keep the sunlight off the soil during germination. With no sunlight, and a reasonably moist surface (I'll give 'em a spray every day) that should pull the soil temp toward the dew point, which is 70F or so.

Waiting a few weeks won't really help temperature-wise, though. We're pretty flat through August.

Beans, beans, I want beans!

You can always soak the seeds first and/or chit (pre-sprout) them in damp coffee filters or paper towels.

Thanks, very true about soaking. I ALWAYS do that for peas and beans. (Put them in this morning ... fingers crossed.)

But I'm only vaguely aware of chit. Never done it. Why would one want to pre-sprout them? It seems that would make the seedling extremely fragile. If I'm sticking a seed in the ground, I don't want to have to worry about what's trying to come out of it.

FYI, I planted Fortex and Emerite beans three days ago. They are up already! Yay! It's been in low 90s this week.

You have to be careful setting them in the hole so nothing breaks off, but if you do it just as they're beginning to sprout it's very easy and they don't seem to mind at all. I try to "lean" the seed against the side of the hole - it's worked so far. Coffee filters are better for more fragile plants because there's less chance the root will grow through the paper. Heck, I've heard of people chitting carrots since it takes so long for them to germinate otherwise. If it works for root vegetables it'll work for anything.

I guess I don't quite understand WHY you do chitting. Is it to promote high germination in controlled conditions? If I'm planting a whole packet of seeds, I sure don't want to have to carefully arrange each on of them as I put them in the hole. So if it's going to take 5-7 days for beans to emerge from the soil, maybe doing chitting on them cuts a couple of days of uncertainty off of that? I guess I can imagine why it might be useful in a cool climate where things are slow, but everything goes fast in mine.

OK, progress report.

It's been over 100F for the last week, with nighttime temps getting down to 78F. Ouch! But I planted Contender, and kept it moist (every-other-day watering) under a solar screen. Here I am a week later looking at 80% germination rate! The largestseedlings are a bit leggy (3-inches tall), so I probably should have removed the screen yesterday, but I wanted to get everyone up and out of the ground. They all get to see direct sun starting today. Will see how they like it.

What a difference the zone makes! My last planting of beans looks to be starting to flower next week. What I have just sprouted are green peas, and they're looking fine in the high-70s weather we're having.

Go, Dan! I am betting they will be fine. I have found in past years that I actually get more snaps (and better tasting ones) from the fall crop than from the spring one....the weather only gets cooler as time goes on. By the time the plants start blooming, you should be over the hump. (or close)

Thanks, Donna. They're lookin' good. Actually, we have a cold front on the way, which will reduce the heat stress on them. That's where the temperature drops to the mid-90s. Get out your sweaters! Yeah, that's what a mid-August cold front in central Texas looks like ...