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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26 Aug 09, Kathryn (Australia - temperate climate)
Yes Max, Fava beans and Broad Beans are the same.
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24 Aug 09, Warren Cox (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
My broad beans are about a metre high and have lots of flowers and are still flowering. When can I expect pods?
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19 Aug 09, Gary (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi, I have planted my beans and they are beginning to sprout. Do I need to stake them in any manner?
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16 Aug 09, nat (Australia - temperate climate)
Ken i think the BB plants are frost tolerant but it can affect the flowers so you may not get beans until after the frosts, im not 100% sure though.
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15 Aug 09, Jarrad (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Carol, I too live north of Brisbane and have broadbeans that are flowering but also do not know when to expect pods. The flowers always seem to attract plenty of bees but they are blackening as well. Not sure if this is supposed to happen...
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15 Aug 09, Carol (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I live North of Brisbane,my broadbeans are flowering well,i have never grown them before so i dont know what to expect,do the pods come after the flowers.
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12 Aug 09, Ken (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Rosemary, mine are the same. Over a metre tall, flowers have been appearing for many weeks, but no fruit set yet. We are having good frosts but I thought broad beans were frost tolerant. I have no answers yet.
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12 Aug 09, max davey (Australia - temperate climate)
are broad beans and fava beans the same.For medical reasons I have been told to eat fava beans for my complaint.
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10 Aug 09, Rosemary Anderson (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Tall healthy BB plants with many flowers but none setting. Does anyone know the reason or remedy?
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08 Aug 09, Teash (Australia - temperate climate)
After my harvest of broad beans last year, we took them all out of the garden and placed them on a composting pile, you guessed it in about 2 months I have BB everywhere, so I have just let them go, I have had BB over the winter, not a lot but enough for 1 decent feed per week. My advice to all you BB lovers, if you get lots of ants, give them a good spray with some soapy water, you may need to do this weekly if you have the time. If you see lots of bees around your flowers you will have lots of BB. Last year I just placed a rope around the bottom of mine and one around midway up to try and keep them together. One can never have enough broadbeans, blanch them quickly and freeze them if you have to many, mine generally dont last that long. Hope I have helped you in some way.
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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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