Lima Bean Scientific information?

Lima bean plant science experiment help?

• I'm going to do a science project on lima beans for an online biology course. I plan to pot about 2 dozen lima beans and grow half with regular water and half with sugar water. How long do you guess it will take them to sprout, and how long do you think I should run the experiment total? Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and how much should I water them? Daily? Two sprays out of a squirt bottle? Till it looks damp? And how should I measure it? An average of how tall they get per day? Or which type gets to a certain height the fastest? Help! Thanks so much! God bless!

• Answer:

  Under optimum conditions of moisture, soil and temperature, about 5 days for your lima bean to sprout. I would run the experiment for about two weeks. You have asked many questions but have not offered enough information. Your water is dependent on how much sun or shade the plants are in. If they are mostly shaded they will need much less water and will grow very weakly. If they are full sun they will need more water but not really wet.. but will grow faster and healthier. Just remember they like to be well drained so be sure to put holes in the bottom of your cups.. I assume you are growing them in cups. The height also depends on the amount of sun and the amount of water. They can grow very large in the ground but probably only a couple feet at most under ideal conditions. Of course bush lima bean plants are shorter than running type lima bean plants but you are not telling us the specific kinds you are using so hard to tell which kind is going to be largest. Germination Time (Days) 31 days at 59° F 18 days at 68° F 7 days at 77° F 7 days at 86° F Seed Germination and Temperature Range 75° F Seeds need to be planted 1/2 to 3/4 deep. They need lots of warmth, sunshine & moisture to germinate.