The broad bean (Vicia faba) is not a bean in the botanical sense but a vetch, and that is why it behaves so differently from French and runner beans. It takes frost, germinates at 5 degrees and is sown months earlier than any other legume. A plant set in March crops in July, before the summer beans have even got going.
Sow earlier than anything else
Sow direct in place as soon as the soil can be worked, usually in March or April. Young plants take down to about minus 4 degrees without protection.
Depth: 5 cm.
Spacing in the row: 10 to 15 cm.
Between rows: 45 to 60 cm, or double rows with 25 cm between the two rows of a pair.
Germination: 7 to 14 days. The seed germinates at soil temperatures as low as 5 degrees.
To start even earlier, raise plants in deep pots in March and set them out in April. The roots want depth, not width. There is more on the method in our guide to raising plants from seed, and direct sowing is covered in direct sowing.
Autumn sowing in mild areas
In mild districts and near the coast you can sow at the end of October or the beginning of November. The plants reach 10 to 15 cm before winter, stand over and take off in March. The crop then comes two to three weeks earlier, and the plants flower before the blackfly get going.
Choose a variety meant for autumn sowing. Aquadulce Claudia is the usual one.
Position, soil and support
Full sun and soil that has not just been manured. The broad bean fixes its own nitrogen with bacteria in the root nodules and needs no nitrogen feed at all.
Plants reach 60 to 120 cm depending on variety and stand unsteadily in wind. Drive a cane into each corner of the row and run string at two heights, 30 and 60 cm. That is enough.
Pinch out the top once the first pods have set
This is the single most important move in the whole crop and the one most often left out.
When the lowest flower clusters have set small pods, pinch off the top 5 to 8 cm of the plant. It does two things at once.
You remove the blackfly's favourite spot. Black bean aphid gathers in the growing tip. With no tip the attack drops away sharply.
The energy goes into the pods instead of into more height, and the crop ripens more evenly.
The tops are edible. Steam them for two minutes and use them like spinach.
Blackfly and chocolate spot
Black bean aphid: dense black colonies in the tip from June. Pinch out the top and hose the rest off with water.
Chocolate spot: chocolate-brown blotches on the leaves in wet summers. It comes from damp, still air. Keep the spacing in the row and do not water from above.
Slugs: they take the newly sown plants. Put protection out for the first few weeks.
Pick at the right stage
The broad bean has three picking stages, and most people miss the first two.
Whole pods, when they are 5 to 7 cm and flat. Cook them whole like mangetout.
Fresh beans, when the pod is filled but still soft and glossy. This is the classic stage.
Dried beans, when the pod has gone black and papery late in the season.
The test for stage two: break a pod open and look at the scar where the bean was attached, the small tab on its edge. If it is white or pale green the bean is at its best. Once it has turned brown or black the bean has gone floury and the skin tough, and you should then slip each bean out of its skin after cooking.
From a spring sowing it takes 90 to 100 days to harvest.
Varieties
Aquadulce Claudia: long pods, the variety used for autumn sowing.
Witkiem: an early spring-sown variety that ripens evenly.
The Sutton: low, around 45 cm, and therefore the one that works in raised beds and windy spots.
Crimson Flowered: red flowers, grown mostly for looks but fully edible.
Leave the roots in the ground
Cut the plant off at soil level when the crop is finished and leave the root system in place. The nitrogen in the root nodules is released as the roots break down and goes to the next crop. Follow broad beans with brassicas or leafy greens.
One thing to know about favism
Broad beans contain the compounds vicine and convicine. In people with the inherited enzyme deficiency G6PD they can trigger a form of anaemia called favism. The condition is uncommon in northern Europe but more common around the Mediterranean and in parts of Asia and Africa. If you serve broad beans to guests, it is worth saying what is in the dish.
More legumes are among our bean seeds, and ordinary beans are covered in our article on beans.
Author: Emma Vogiatzi
Fact checked by Erik Hoekstra
Last updated 2026-08-31