I plant 9 per square and really dont have any issues. I've tried decreasing the amount in the past to see if I got more harvest with less plants and I did not, so I went back to 9.

Lima beans are bigger plants than regular bush beans. Just something to be aware of.

Rodney

I've done the Blue Lakes at 9/sq, no problem, I'm not sure about the Lima beans.

It's nice to see people posting in this forum again. I was beginning to think I was one of the few sfg aficionados out there.

planterjeff- Did you notice the yield drop when you spaced the plants farther?

Rodney

Thanks for all the great advice. I've done one square of the lima beans with 9 and the rest with 4 per square. I'll let you guys know how the yields compare. I'm going to follow Katie's lead and go with 9 of the Blue Lakes per square :)

I am curious to see the results. Not to high jack the thread, but anyone try soy beans? if so are you doing 9 per square too?

I grew soy beans (Edamame - Butter Bean) last year - 4 per square would be the maximum for me. The variety I planted would not have done well with 9 per square - I do not always plant the maximum number of plants per square. Here is just the lower part of one plant.

That's some really good production Yolos! I will be planting mine today. I am about 20 days later than normal:(

Wow Yolos that is amazing! Our lima beans are just starting to put out pods and they are flowering like crazy. We had a major flood a couple of days ago that covered the whole raised bed in a foot (above the rise) of water but they don't seem the worse for wear. My worry is that, with all the rain we are getting, that the honey bees and so forth won't be able to get out and about to fertilize all those flowers!

sq ft gardening is a joke, they have tomatoes in 1 sq ft

beans at 9. ridiculous