🌱 Bean Plant Water Calculator
Calculate exactly how much water your bean plants need based on bed size, growth stage & soil type
| Soil Type | Water Holding | Frequency Adjust | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy | Low (0.75 in/ft) | +25% more often | Water every 1-2 days |
| Sandy Loam | Medium-Low (1.0 in/ft) | +10% more often | Water every 2 days |
| Loam (ideal) | Medium (1.5 in/ft) | Standard rate | Water every 2-3 days |
| Clay Loam | High (1.8 in/ft) | -10% less often | Water every 3-4 days |
| Clay | Very High (2.0 in/ft) | -20% less often | Water every 4-5 days |
| Raised Bed Mix | Excellent (1.6 in/ft) | -5% less often | Check every 2 days |
| Method | Efficiency | Gal/min | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drip Irrigation | 90-95% | 0.5-1 gph/emitter | Rows, raised beds |
| Soaker Hose | 80-90% | 0.5-1 gal/ft/hr | Long rows |
| Hand / Hose | 65-75% | 2-5 gpm | Small beds |
| Overhead Sprinkler | 50-70% | 1-2 gpm | Large areas |
| Bed Size | Area (sq ft) | Gallons/week (1 in) | Gallons/week (1.5 in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 x 4 ft | 16 sq ft | 10 gal | 15 gal |
| 4 x 8 ft | 32 sq ft | 20 gal | 30 gal |
| 4 x 16 ft | 64 sq ft | 40 gal | 60 gal |
| 10 x 20 ft | 200 sq ft | 125 gal | 187 gal |
| 20 x 40 ft | 800 sq ft | 499 gal | 748 gal |
| 50 x 50 ft | 2,500 sq ft | 1,558 gal | 2,337 gal |
Bean Water is made up of the liquid that stays after the cook of beans. It works almost the same as broth. Look at it as broth from beans.
Rather than dump it, one can use it very well in the kitchen and even in the garden.
How to Use Bean Water
The liquid from cooked beans works for drink and for adding in dishes. It carries a lot of starch, what helps to thicken anything, to what one adds it. It also bears the rich taste of the beans.
Add it to chili instead of beef broth gives wonderful result, because it makes the flavor of the whole food stronger. For something as stew, chili or pastas with beans, one can lay the whole amount of bean liquid right in the mix. But for refried beans or bean-based tomato sauce for pasta, better drain more than half of the liquid.
One can use Bean Water for cook rice. Because the liquid already has spices, does not need to add more Water or flavors. Simply pour it in a jar and boil the rice there.
This liquid has a truly separate name. One calls it aquafaba. A man called Goose Wohit found, that the Water of chickpeas, beaten, has all traits of egg whites.
Later he made the word aquafaba from Latin roots for Water. Now it is a famous ingredient in vegan recipes. Warm cook saved chickpeas with there liquid and a bit of Water give creamy, fluffy and smooth mix, that perfectly works for something as hummus.
However the Water from soak is another cause. The liquid, in that beans soaked before cook, should go dumped. Soak removes some sugars, that is hard to digest.
Those sugars cause painful wind. The cause of gas from beans is, that if the body did not adjust to eat them often, those sugars and amino acids create stomach crashes. Drink the plain soak Water brings nutrients, but also bad stomach causes.
For fast soak, take around one pound of beans with two quarts of Water. The next day drain it, add fresh Water with spices, and then cook.
Bean Water helps even for plants. Apply soak or cook Water on houseplants and garden beds does well. Maybe in the liquid is something, what plants like.
If any stuff could be bad, that bothers folks, not plants. Plant beans and other vegetables one beside the other in same soil does not stop them, so a small amount of bean bits will not hurt them.
In the group of canning there is also a silly belief, that skipping the pre-soak before canning makes theBean Water dangerous. That is not true. Too much soak before canning actually does beans mushy and heavy.
