LIFE CYCLE OF A LIMA BEAN FULL

Once these appear and mature, the lima bean plant can get pollinated.įollowing successful pollination, the flower will eventually wither and fall to the ground as bean pods begin to grow. Flowers contain a stamen and pistil-the flower’s male and female reproductive.

It becomes a mature plant when it begins producing flowers.

LIFE CYCLE OF A LIMA BEAN FULL

Once a more mature stem has grown and larger leaves have sprouted, the lima bean plant has full access to the nutrients in the soil and water around it, and it is fully capable of photosynthesis.

The following stage of the life cycle of the lima bean is flowering. These leaves are often called “seed leaves” because they survive largely on nourishment from the seed, much as a fetus draws nourishment from the placenta.Ĭotyledon leaves act as solar panels for the burgeoning plant, giving the seed and the hypocotyl stem energy so they can produce the larger leaves we expect to see on a lima bean plant. However, as it lifts the first couple of cotyledon leaves toward the sky, it’s critical to the plant’s development. The hypocotyl stem bears little resemblance to the plant that will eventually appear after maturation. This tiny stem is the lima bean plant’s first shoot. The hypocotyl stem is the first indication of something breaking through the soil and reaching up for the sunlight. The radicle root will eventually grow to become the plant’s root system, but it’s no more a root system at this point than a stack of uncut wood is a coffee table- things need to happen for it to develop into that. In this incarnation, it won’t play a large role in the life of the mature plant, but immediately following germination, it will stretch out into the soil to absorb more water. The radicle root is an embryonic element of the seed.

Ideal germination conditions include a soil temperature of between 75° and 85° F (23°-29° C). These hormones regulate how a plant grows, and at this stage of the lima bean’s germination, the gibberellin hormones encourage the seed to produce a radicle root. Water acts as a catalyst, as its presence triggers the release of gibberellins. Germination begins when the bean (we’ll refer to it as a seed from here on) soaks up some water. You can cook and eat it, but if you wish, you can plant it and give yourself a crop of lima beans for future use. The seed of a lima bean plant is that lima bean itself.

Life cycle of a lima bean