How to Grow Fava Bean
Fava Bean At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Vegetable
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Hardy
Cold Hardiness
Survives to -10°C
Plant Family
Fabaceae
Growing Season
Cool Season
Plant Lifecycle
Annual
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Fava beans love the cold, so sow them as soon as the soil can be worked in early spring, about 6 weeks before your last frost. Push each big seed 5 cm deep, 20 cm apart, in double rows if you like. They sprout in 7 to 14 days even in cold soil that would rot other beans.
Unlike other beans, fava beans are a cool weather crop: they handle frost and need to make their pods before summer heat arrives, so an early sowing matters most. Like all beans, they add nitrogen (plant food) to the soil, which helps whatever you plant next.
When To Start
Fava Bean likes cool weather. Sow it in early spring, as soon as the ground can be worked.
We do not have exact sowing dates for this one yet.
When should you plant Fava Bean?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Fava Bean Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Fava Bean Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Sow fava beans now, they love cool soil
6 weeks before your last frost
Pinch the tops off fava beans once the first pods form
30 days after your last frost
Pick fava bean pods when plump but still tender
About 85 days after you plant it
Did you water your fava bean seedlings today? Keep the top of the soil damp until they are up and growing.
About 1 days after you plant it
Time to thin the fava bean seedlings: snip the extras at soil level so each one has room to grow.
About 24 days after you plant it
Your fava beans should be growing tall by now. Hill a little soil around the stems to help them stand up in wind.
About 42 days after you plant it
Exciting stage! Pinch off the soft top once pods start, which helps the plant fill its beans.
About 71 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your fava bean.
About 85 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Fava Bean's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 7–14 days
Growing Tips
- 1Grow fava beans in full sun, at least 6 hours a day.
- 2Mix some compost into the soil, but skip extra feeding, since fava beans make their own nitrogen from the air with the help of tiny lumps on their roots.
- 3Water deeply once a week, and keep the soil damp while they flower and set pods.
- 4In windy spots, run string between stakes on each side of the row to hold the tall plants up.
- 5Once the first pods form, pinch off the top 8 cm of each plant to stop black aphids, which crowd the soft tips, and wash off any you see with a spray of water.
- 6A small number of people have an inherited condition called favism that makes eating fava beans dangerous, so skip this crop if anyone in your home has it.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~85
Days to Maturity
120 cm
Mature Height
30 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
21 days
When to Pick
Pick pods when beans are plump but still tender, late spring/early summer
How to Harvest
- 1Start with the lowest pods, when they feel full and the beans inside are plump but still bright green and tender.
- 2Snap or cut the pods off, holding the stem so you do not pull the plant over.
- 3Shell the beans, then drop them in boiling water for 1 minute and slip off the pale outer skin of the bigger ones.
- 4The tops you pinched off are tasty cooked like spinach.
- 5After the last picking, cut the plants at soil level and leave the roots in the ground to feed the soil.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Fava beans mostly pollinate themselves, but bees cross them easily, so grow only one variety or keep different ones as far apart as you can. They are not hybrids unless the packet says F1, and hybrid F1 seeds will not grow true. Leave a few of the best plants unpicked until the pods turn black and dry and the beans rattle inside. Shell the beans and let them dry indoors for another 1 to 2 weeks, until they are too hard to dent with a fingernail. Store them labelled in a jar somewhere cool, dark and dry, where they keep about 5 years.
Seed Production
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