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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04 Sep 13, Lee Patterson (Australia - temperate climate)
I did ask a couple of times about my Broad Beans. They are now fruiting but I pulled all the Brussel Sprout plants as they did no good.
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28 Aug 13, Antonio (Australia - tropical climate)
My broad beans plants have plenty of flowers but after more than one week with flowers I can not see any pods. What is wrong with them? When should I see fruit pods?
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30 Aug 13, joe (Australia - temperate climate)
flowers may show for a month or more..don,t worry.the warm weather days will get them moving. also there is a only a few bees around im trying to get my basil and and lavender into flower. and hopfuly attract more bees.this may help also.
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21 Aug 13, Robin Scott (Australia - temperate climate)
Something that I have found useful with broad beans. Like many gardeners, we have a problem with cabbage white butterfly, and I found quite by accident that after they have finished their working day, they retire to the broad beans for the night. Had me puzzled as to why until I realized that their white wings with black spot are very similar to broad bean flowers. Just go in at dusk and pick them off!
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18 Aug 13, Lee Patterson (Australia - temperate climate)
My Broad Beans plants are quite high and have the flowers on them and plenty of BEES which I haven't seen in the garden for ages. I still have no fruit on them. Should I just leave them or pull them out. Also Brussel Sprouts with no fruit. Can anyone help. Thank you.
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30 Aug 13, joe (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
wait for the weather to continus warm days. im on the central coast nsw .had flowers for a long time.more then 6 weeks .and today i see the first beans. just leave them. you will be suprised
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27 Aug 13, Keith Lawson (Australia - temperate climate)
I had the same problem. I asked the lady at the local garden shop and she suggested giving them some potassium. This did the trick and I now have plenty of pods.
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29 Jul 13, Desiree Parkes (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)
Broad beans are beneficial for the brain as once eatenthey provide dopamine which is essential for preventing and for the aid of Parkinson's ddisease which is incurable. Broad beans must be eaten freshly picked and cooked folr maximum benefit.
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20 Jul 13, Lee Patterson (Australia - temperate climate)
I have planted broad beans and they are now about 2ft high. Have seen purple/white flowers on them, but could you tell me when they will fruit? Thanking you.
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01 Dec 21, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 7b Mild Temperate climate)
Broad Beans/Fava Beans are very easy to grow - once you have all the facts. Here are some general guidelines, as the numbers vary depending on variety- in addition to wind verses shelter location etc. The kill temperature is -4c to -10c depending on the variety - the temperature needs to be sustained; that is, two seconds of -10c is not going to do anything... its all about when the freeze explodes the cells of the plant. I 've had mine in -6c on more than one occasion but the temp only stayed that low for about an hour- the high winds did the most damage. Those plants protected from the wind sustained little to no damage, those plants that where exposed lost about a third of their branches. Optimum growth temperature is somewhere between 18c and 26c The plants will grow from about 2c but go dormant below 2c, and also go dormant if it gets too hot. Too hot will generally reduce productivity and may comprise the ability of the plant to produce beans. So here is your temp line (I hope this turn out - it is meant to have temps above what happens at that temp) -10c -4c 0 2c 10c 15c 18c 20c 25c 30c ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ dead dormant growing OK growing well difficult to produce beans due to heat dead So what needs to happen to grow this plant 1. you need 80 or more days in the GROWING temperature zone to get to beans (though you may get a few here and there earlier). These days do not need to be continuous (in a row), Beans can go dormant, then grow, then go dormant etc. 2. you need SUN while growing 3. after 80 days in the growing temp range you should start getting beans: BUT favas need a lot of water during the flowering stage to produce beans... no water while flowering, no beans; low water, low bean production; lots of water while flowering healthy bean production You need to hit all 3 of these criteria to get beans... but don't stress, these beans are forgiving and will fight to hold on until conditions are good. Again, 80 days or more in temps above say 5c and below 28c, sun, lots of water while flowering. Now lets say you plant your fava beans with an intent to overwinter..... it could take 200 days of elapsed time to get your 80 days of growing temperature days. That's why you will see a days to harvest that ranges from about 80 days to about 240days. Spring sown favas will generally make it in 80 days, but if you overwinter there is no telling how long it will take to get beans BECAUSE you don't really know how many days are suitable growing days; if your winter is unseasonable warm you might get beans in 80 days, if your winter is unseasonable cold, you might not get beans until well into SPRING/SUMMER almost the equivalent of spring planting. Also note: that though favas fix their own nitrogen they still need the other two macro nutrients (phosphorus, and potassium) to grow as well as a variety of micro nutrients -- I give mine a dose of micronutrients at planting and manure while growing. Since favas are so hardy; I tend to grow mine in new beds; since usually nothing else will grow well in a new bed; I also use them in my WORST locations AND I grow mine over winter here, planting very late in summer, more like fall; as I want to bring in the last of the potatoes or tomatoes or whatever..... so they get the worst of everything (I'm shocked that they are growing in a bed that has not even fully composted and which I can barely dig in ), and still they do just fine. I like them for their edible green leaves during winter (flash fry them for use in a salad with croutons and other stuff - or wilt some in your soup.... like a side salad on top of your soup). These greens will keep you from getting stale stomach over winter if you are prone. The leaves taste like fava beans... so that is a bit strange, and the texture is tougher than most leafy greens; what can I say other than you'll get use to it. I believe in growing what grows well in my area, and adjusting my taste accordingly... or finding a recipe to hide the taste of things I'm not fond of but grow well. As far as pollination; I have got beans, not many, but some beans, in the middle of winter; no bees around then. I didn't hand pollinate or anything.... I am assuming wind did the job, but it could have been ants. I have noticed that when I STRETCH the growing season (overwinter), I get more stalks and greens with less beans; if I plant in ideal conditions and timeframes I get less greens and more beans. Real Estate in my garden is limited; so since these plants can handle the terrible conditions I grow them in winter.... leaving the ideal temps for my cherry tomatoes, potatoes and yams. Without a doubt BEANS are the big producers in my garden; whether they be runner beans, or fava beans; or which I have a half dozen varieties of each.
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Update June 01, 2021 - I have lots and lots of fava beans - and am continuing to get more and more. It looks like it will take until the end of the month to bring them all in. So these beans will take about 320 days from planting to full harvest. The haul was great and I am pleased with the overwintering process - very pleased. The beans that I planted in spring are still a ways off from producing beans -- the plants are also much smaller, and I doubt they will put forth as many beans as the favas that were overwintered. The overwintered favas are a mess, with the tarp damage and some favas rocketing up to what looks to be 9 feet, reaching for the sun (they are in a shady location) - but I am pleased. If I had only grown the spring planted favas, I might have given up on favas all together...... but overwintering seems to be the key here in Victoria, British Columbia for a really good crop of beans...... and I would even grow these in the winter for the greens -- they take a bit of getting use to (as did spinach for me when I was a child) -- but once you get use to the greens they are great. The greens taste like fava beans, and not like any other green. I have a few corrections from my first few posts: 1. when I said I lost 1/3 of the plants that were not covered during the really cold week --- it should have said I lost a third of each plant that was not tarped: so if the plant was 9 feet, I had to cut it back to 6feet. The number of plants actually lost was zero. While I only lost a portion of SOME of the tarped plants and when there was a loss it was about 10% of the plant. Also the plants not covered where in a much windier location (think one step and your off a 12 foot drop and in the Pacific Ocean--so lots of wind) -- the plants that were covered where a couple of meters away from the drop off, and there is noticeably less wind there. So whether or not the tarp really makes a difference here is still debatable; the difference may have been wind chill. 2. when I said I used the fava bean leaves as a garnish in my soups over the winter; it was really more akin to a side salad on top of my soup -- big handful of leaves -- sometime harvested based on a branch breaking due to wind. Stems were ground into pesto. Again, I'm very pleased with overwintering my favas; and expect that in the future I will only overwinter rather than spring plant. Winters here are RAINY with lows at about -2 (and extreme lows as cold as -6 last winter), it is also overcast here during the winter with very few sun breaks.... luckily I get a lot of reflection off the water when the sun does peak through. I grew 4 varieties of fava; including the extra early violets; all performed well; the violets are the prettiest if you take them to the dried pod stage; they all taste about the same.

- FaithCeleste Archer

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