Growing Broad Beans, also Fava bean

Vicia faba : Fabaceae / the pea or legume family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
              P P      

(Best months for growing Broad Beans in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 43°F and 75°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 6 - 10 inches apart
  • Harvest in 12-22 weeks. Pick frequently to encourage more pods.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Dill, Potatoes

Your comments and tips

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14 Mar 11, kennykolal (Australia - temperate climate)
hi yes to supermarket beans,i bought mine from italian deli $2.00 for agood sized bag,fava beans are good also but grow to 2mts high,
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08 Mar 11, leeroy (Australia - temperate climate)
you can it will work out cheaper but you dont know what variety your growing.
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12 Feb 11, adam (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Yep. Dipel's the go. You can get a,liquid form of Dipel which, for me, is easier to use. It's called SUCCESS. from Yates, and you use just 5ml in a litre. Just a thought.
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10 Nov 10, John (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Broad beans are very hardy and will grow very well in clay and very poor soil and produce a very high yield if the soil is moist,drained ,and some compost has been dug in the soil before planting
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09 Nov 10, Kusum (Australia - temperate climate)
I sow broad beans seedlings in early September. In October end I saw a couple of broad beans and after that the broad beans were getting black on the top and are not growing big. Also there are many flowers but could not see any more broad beans. Can you please advise what has happened and how can I protect my broad beans from further destruction?
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16 Jun 18, bianca (Australia - temperate climate)
hello, from Sydney here. The reason is because you planted them late. They are a cool crop plant and as such need to be planted in Autumn or winter. I wouldnt plant after June, too late. I find the best time to sow seeds are May-June
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28 Jun 11, Alan (Australia - temperate climate)
I find sowing BB's in June reduces the likelihood of brown or black spot. I'm in Tasmania. The beans germinate in approx 21 days do not grow a great deal but 'take off' in September and produce a wonderful crop. I pinch out the growing tips when plants are about a metre+ tall. They are good steamed.
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01 Nov 10, Manuel (Australia - temperate climate)
1/11/2010 Hi, I started growing broad beans seeds in the first week of July and three to four weeks later they started to germinate. Towards the end of October the pods were starting to appear looking healthy and are ready to be picked in the first week of November. The plants with the pods on them are half to one meter in height.
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23 Oct 10, Bob Hayward (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi, my broad beans grow well initially but after the pods start to emerge the stems and pods start to blacken resulting in a withered plant. This decay seems to limited to the broad beans, other plants and weeds in the same area remain healthy. Any suggestions as to the cause and remedies.
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10 Oct 10, Jan (Australia - temperate climate)
When do you know that Broad Beans are ready to pick? thanks Jan
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Showing 181 - 190 of 268 comments
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Let's start with the germination temperature: 7c to 18c is the ideal germination temperature for FB, further the temperature needs to be sustained (over 5 or more days). So it needs to be warmish for the seeds to germinate. They will however happily reside in the soil until those temperatures are met (within reason- excess moisture causing rot etc.). The growing temperature for fava beans is between 4c and 24c. The kill temperature is -4c to -10c depending on the variety. What happens between the kill temperature and the grow temperature is a "waiting/holding" time (the plant is alive, but is sort of in limbo until the temperature is good enough again to grow). Above 24c the plant is starting to experience heat related symptoms and again is just holding on (unless the temps get to hot and kill the plant). You need to think about temperatures - what temps do you expect over the next month ? Based on the temperatures, do you think you seeds will germinate ? Then think about the grow temperatures -- if the seeds sprout will they be able to grow ? Generally if you want to grow fava beans in winter you plant them in late summer - so they germinate and grow enough BEFORE the cold weather -- during the cold weather (provided your are does not get too cold) the beans will be able to stay alive and grow a slight bit -- so you can harvest greens during winter and some beans -- then spring comes and the fava plants put forth LOTS of beans and then die. That is to say, the fava bean plant does not grow very much in cold weather and I find that typical of most plants that I want to over winter. They need to have a head start in decent weather and then they kind of SLOWLY inch their way to the finish line. Over wintering is a means of keeping the produce fresh - think of it this way - if you had produce in the fridge it is no longer growing, in fact it is in the process of dying, losing valuable nutrients daily. If you have a plant in the winter ground (that can handle overwintering), it is alive, GROWING REALLY REALLY slow, but it is alive and NOT losing nutrients. I guess what I'm trying to say is, super performance is generally not required, or expected, we are just looking to hold nutrients when we over winter. Clearly some plants are better for overwinter than others - in my area FAVA BEANS are a good choice.

- Celeste Archer

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