crimson flowered broad bean
Vicia faba
Last edited by shiny on November 07, 2026. View history
Fava Bean
Also known as
broad bean (EN)
fava bean (EN)
field bean (EN)
bell bean (EN)
tic bean (EN)
favabean (EN)
broadbean (EN)
How to sow fava bean: Direct seed outdoors
Sun requirement for fava bean: Plant in Full Sun
The fava, or broad bean, is a species of flowering plant in the vetch and pea family Fabaceae. Unlike most beans, fava beans thrive in cooler weather and do not require trellising. They should be planted in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked. The broad, leathery pods contain 3-8 beans and grow on stiff stems that can reach heights of 1.8m. Fava are planted for their edible beans, or as a cover crop to reduce winter erosion and increase nitrogen in the soil. Inoculants can increase yield and nitrogen production. The pods are commonly harvested while young, when they are about 15cm long. Fava beans are eaten in a myriad of ways: raw in salads, grilled, roasted, fried, pureed, and more.
- 15
- plantings
- 6
- harvests
- 3
- seed packets
Fava bean facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
20 weeks
median lifespan
First harvest expected
28
weeks after planting
Height
120cmRow Spacing
12cm Members' seed packets: 25cmGrown for
seed harvested 3 times
Optimal temperature
18–28 °C
Absolute temperature
5–32 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
650–1000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
250–2600 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
6–7
Absolute soil pH
4.5–8.6
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
100–150 days
FAO EcoCrop
Max altitude
2700 m
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
very bright to clear skies
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For fava bean, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 100 days at its best temperature, about 1800 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your fava bean will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing fava beans
- Dig compost into the bed 2 weeks before sowing
- Set or refill beer traps for slugs and snails 1 week after sowing every week
- Put in stakes and string 4 weeks after sowing
- Weed between the rows 4 weeks after sowing
- Check for aphids on the tips 8 weeks after sowing every week
- Pinch out the tips once pods set 3 weeks before first harvest
- Pick pods while the beans are small at first harvest every week
- Cut plants down and leave the roots in 6 weeks after first harvest
How members grow fava beans
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Harvested for
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Varieties of fava bean
red seeded broad bean
Vicia faba
Scottish broad bean
Vicia faba
Suttons dwarf broad bean
Vicia faba
tic bean
Vicia faba
Windsor giant broad bean
Vicia faba
Photos
Photos
Fava bean crops
Fava bean plantings
Fava bean harvests
Video
Where fava beans grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about fava beans
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Who's planted fava beans
- shiny Scottish broad bean seedlings frames · Wellington, NZ
- corvi Turnaround Bed #3 · salt spring island
- davdino Jardin partagé Pic et Beche · Saint-Martin-de-Londr...
- laurent 2 · Lausanne, switzerland
- ybvb Garden · 43 Carr Street, South...
shiny
Fava bean harvests
-
bigblen harvested 1.6 kg.
almost 7 years ago
-
bigblen harvested 1 basket, weighing 0.732 kg.
almost 7 years ago
-
bigblen harvested 1 basket, weighing 0.5 kg.
almost 7 years ago
bigblen harvested 1.6 kg.
Find fava bean seeds
View all fava bean seeds
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Nutritional data
A summary of nutritional data per 100g for Bean, broad, fresh, raw.
| Energy | 235.0 kJ |
|---|---|
| Protein | 6.9 g |
| Fat, total | 0.5 g |
| Carbohydrate | 2.2 g |
| - Sugars | 0.7 g |
| Fibre | 7.1 g |
| Sodium | 4.0 mg |
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 100 to 150 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Vicia faba L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Fabales Leguminosae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about fava beans
Resources outside Growstuff.
