🫘 Thorogreen Lima Bean

Phaseolus lunatus ‘Thorogreen’
The green baby lima that stays green: small, tender, heat-tough beans on a compact bush — the freezer lima.
Sun
Full sun, 6-8 hrs
Days to harvest
68 days
Spacing
4-6 inches apart in rows 24-30 inches apart
Soil pH
6.0-6.8
Zones
Grown as an annual everywhere; in Florida, a spring-through-fall crop — limas love heat and a long season

What it looks like

No verified photo of ‘Thorogreen Lima Bean’ itself was found, so the pictures below show the species — the same plant, photographed generally.

Thorogreen Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus ‘Thorogreen’) — Flower of Lima beans
Flower of Lima beans. Photo: Ravikiran vilas jadhav, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thorogreen Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus ‘Thorogreen’) — Lima bean (Assam)
Lima bean (Assam). Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thorogreen Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus ‘Thorogreen’) — Shelling lima beans
Shelling lima beans. Photo: Pacopac, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Why this variety

Thorogreen is the bush lima for gardeners who want baby limas without a trellis. The beans are small, green, and tender — the classic baby lima type — on a compact bush that bears heavily for its size. And the name is a promise it keeps: Thorogreen beans stay green when cooked, where many baby limas fade to a drab olive. If you freeze limas, that color retention is the difference between a freezer bag you reach for and one you avoid.

At 68 days it is also earlier than the big pole limas, which matters in a Florida garden: it can finish a spring crop before the worst heat and still make a fall crop with room to spare. Heat tolerance is a Thorogreen hallmark — it keeps setting pods in weather that makes snap beans drop their flowers, which is the lima family’s whole advantage in the South.

If you have not grown the species before, start with the Lima Bean growing guide for the general picture, then come back here for what makes this variety different.

How to grow

Direct-sow Thorogreen about an inch deep, 4-6 inches apart in rows 24-30 inches apart, once soil is at least 65°F — limas rot in cold, wet soil faster than snap beans, so warm soil is non-negotiable. In Florida, sow in spring once soil is truly warm and again in late summer for fall harvest.

Keep the bed evenly moist through emergence and mulch once plants are up. Bush limas are compact but thirsty during pod-fill, and steady water is what keeps baby limas tender rather than starchy. Succession-sow every few weeks during each window if you want a steady supply for the freezer.

Water & feeding

About an inch a week, steady through flowering and pod-fill. Thorogreen fixes its own nitrogen via rhizobium nodules, so skip nitrogen fertilizer. Worm castings worked in before planting supply phosphorus and micronutrients without burning seeds.

Common problems

[‘Lima bean pod borers and stink bugs target pods — scout as pods swell. Root-knot nematodes can trouble limas in sandy Florida soil; rotate beds and add organic matter. Rust and blight love humidity: water at the base, do not handle wet plants, rotate beds yearly. Seedling rot is the early risk — warm soil and good drainage are the prevention.’]

Harvest

Pick Thorogreen pods when they feel plump but the beans inside are still green and tender — shell fresh for immediate cooking, or blanch and freeze the shelled beans at their green peak. For dry use, leave pods on the plant until dry and rattling. Pick regularly: a bush left loaded with mature pods slows down fast.

Nerdy fact: Thorogreen’s stay-green trait is about pigment stability: the green chlorophyll in the bean survives cooking better than in most limas. It is a small trait with an outsized kitchen payoff — the same reason food photographers love this variety, and the same reason your freezer bags look appetizing in January.

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Saving seeds

Thorogreen is the bush lima for gardeners who want baby limas without a trellis. The beans are small, green, and tender — the classic baby lima type — on a compact bush that bears heavily for its size. And the name is a promise it keeps: Thorogreen beans stay green when cooked, where many baby limas fade to a drab olive. If you freeze limas, that color retention is the difference between a freezer bag you reach for and one you avoid. At 68 days it is also earlier than the big pole limas, which matters in a Florida garden: it can finish a spring crop before the worst heat and still make a fall crop with room to spare. As an open-pollinated heirloom — Reimer Seeds lists Early Thorogreen as Open Pollinated, USDA PI 549480, dating back to at least the early 1940s — saved seed comes true. Lima beans are self-pollinating, so crossing is uncommon, and the full method is in the Saving seeds section of the Lima Bean guide.