Conditions for growing the bean plants
For your beans to grow as fast as our timeline, you will need to provide them with bright light for 14 hours per day.
The lighting for our growing conditions was a bank of LED lights (Fig. 4).
Figure 4. The LED light set up we used to grow our beans. The lights were turned on and off with a time clock. Credit: M.E. Conley.
The light output at the top of the containers was 700 Lux with up to 980 Lux at the top of the plants. Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) measured 140 or higher and the daily light integral (DLI - the amount of light the plants received over 14 hours) was 4-5 moles.
If you are fortunate enough to have a greenhouse, the light will be more than adequate, and plants may grow faster.
The temperature should be set between 70 and 80o F for best growth.
The growing medium was perlite*.
*Perlite is dusty so wear a mask to avoid being exposed to the dust.
Perlite was chosen because it allows roots to remain free growing (unattached), it allows air near the roots,
and you can also remove the plant to see the roots.
The ideal temperature should be around 72° F / 22° C. If your temperature is higher the plants will grow faster.
In terms of spacing between the containers, place the containers in a space that has been cleaned with 10% household bleach. Allow 4-6 inches around each container.