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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17 Jun 18, bianca (Australia - temperate climate)
hi there, did you check leaves for any sign of aphid infestation?
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25 Apr 16, Vera (Australia - temperate climate)
H,i to all the ones who are having trouble with growing broad beans maybe its the type of soil that you use , in my garden bed i mix cow manure, garden compost ,, ,vegie compost , i have done this for a long time , and i have no trouble with growing broad beans , last year i plant the seeds and had a lot of beans i had to give some away , i planted a few weeks again the seeds and i have them growing again , Regards Vera,
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06 Oct 15, Barry Coster (Australia - temperate climate)
My broad beans have leaf curl. I don't know what causes it or how to treat it ?
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12 Oct 15, Prometheus (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Hi Barry, I have had exactly the same problem this year (I am from Central Highlands of Victoria). It's hard to find any information about leaf curl on broad beans via the internet. I have noticed however that it's tended to affect my plants which were overseeded in smaller 25cm containers (most of my plants in larger containers don't have the curl). I suspect that the recent Spring heatwave (we had temps in the mid 30s) has something to do with it - broad beans do not tolerate temperatures above 23 degrees and will start to wilt and die off in the 30s. My diagnosis is probably the combination of unseasonal hot, dry weather and overcrowding is killing them off. This may be the same cause for you if you live in an area that experienced the heatwave. I think you can either leave them and see if they recover on their own, or (which is the course of action I will follow), cutting down the most badly affected plants and leaving some of the others to hopefully regenerate. All the best, P.
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07 Mar 15, Sharon (Australia - temperate climate)
Is it too late to plant dwarf beans? The packet says 'plant in March" ?
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31 Oct 14, Jim O'Brien (Australia - temperate climate)
Planted broad bean seeds 30/4 and just about to begin harvest on 31/10/14. That's 180 days. Is there anything I should do to speed up the fruiting process. Thanks
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12 Aug 15, (Australia - temperate climate)
you sound like an industry grower. Old saying plant peas or broad beans on Anzac day. I let them do their thing for a while,then a bit of hi Potassium will speed up flowering. But you planted correctly,no worries. Be patient,31 Oct you have a good crop,all other events can adjust.But so far do nothing it's perfect. Gaz
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18 Sep 14, Ken (Australia - temperate climate)
Fully in flower but plants have leaf curl.
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06 Aug 14, Bart Lea (Australia - temperate climate)
I should have said on the 5th. Plant during the waxng moon before the last Full moon of Winter.
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05 Aug 14, Bart Lea (Australia - temperate climate)
I was told that the pods begin to set when the warm Spring weather begins, so there's no need to plant them too early. I'm planting mine during the last New moon of winter.
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Showing 61 - 70 of 268 comments
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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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