🥕 Winged Beans
Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
vegetables perennial climbing vine (annual in temperate)
☀️ Sun
full sun
💧 Water
moderate to high
🗺️ Zones
9, 12
🪴 Soil Type
well-draining, fertile, moist
🧪 Soil pH
6.0-7.0
💧 Drainage
Well-drained
📏 Spacing
12-18 in. apart, 36-48 in. between rows (vine; needs trellis)
📅 Days to Maturity
60-80 days (from seed) for pods; 120-180 days for mature tubers
🍴 Edible Parts
🍽️ ["Stir-fried pods🍽️ salad greens🍽️ edible flowers🍽️ roasted seeds🍽️ tuberous roots"]
🤝 Companions (5)
🤝 corn
Corn provides sturdy living trellises for winged beans' vigorous climbing vines; winged beans fix heavy nitrogen that feeds corn's demanding growth.
🤝 sunflowers
Sunflowers serve as living supports for winged bean vines; winged beans fix nitrogen to sustain sunflowers' tall growth and heavy seed production.
🤝 trellis crops
Entirely edible: pods, leaves, flowers, seeds, and tuberous roots all consumed. Nitrogen fixer. Needs trellising—corn makes excellent living support. Thrives in hot, humid tropics.
🤝 sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes create dense weed-suppressing groundcover beneath trellised winged beans; the two crops occupy complementary vertical zones with no competition.
Winged beans on trellises provide light shade for moisture-loving taro below; winged beans fix nitrogen while taro benefits from the enriched, moist soil.
⚠️ Keep Apart (2)
⚠️ alliums
Growth inhibition or competition
Growth inhibition or competition
💊 Medicinal Uses
Contains high-quality complete protein (all essential amino acids), and significant levels of vitamin E (tocopherols) with antioxidant properties. Rich in iron and calcium. Traditional Southeast Asian remedy for skin conditions, boils, and ulcers. Leaf and flower preparations used for eye inflammation. Seeds contain antinutritional factors (trypsin inhibitors) that are neutralized by cooking.
📝 Notes
Entirely edible: pods, leaves, flowers, seeds, and tuberous roots all consumed. Nitrogen fixer. Needs trellising—corn makes excellent living support. Thrives in hot, humid tropics.