Planting Fava Beans
Fava Beans is a cool season vegetable in the Fabaceae family. Getting the timing right is the difference between a strong stand and a disappointing one, so the windows below are given relative to your own last spring frost and first fall frost rather than a generic calendar date. Look up your local frost dates and count back or forward from there.
You can sow Fava Beans directly into the garden 4–6 weeks before your last frost.
Spacing and Planting Depth
Give Fava Beans room to mature. The figures below come from verified extension and seed-supplier data for typical varieties.
| Spacing in row | 6 inches |
|---|---|
| Row spacing | 18 inches |
| Plants per sq ft | 1.33 |
| Planting depth | 1.5 inches |
| Sun requirement | Full sun |
Days to Maturity
Fava Beans reaches maturity in 75–90 days from sowing.
Fava Beans is ready to harvest after about 83 days. Harvest before summer heat or, for fall crops, before a hard freeze, to keep quality high.
Conditions and Care
As a cool-season vegetable, Fava Beans does its best growing in the cooler weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. It is frost hardy and can shrug off light freezes, so it can stay in the ground later into the season than tender crops.
Fava Beans needs full sun — give it at least six hours of direct light a day for the best growth and flavor. Sow seed about 1.5 inches deep, then keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings establish.
Fava Beans belongs to the Fabaceae family; rotating where you grow members of this family each year helps limit the build-up of soil-borne pests and disease. Fava Beans is generally grown as a single planting each season rather than succession sown.
Companion Plants
Pairing Fava Beans with the right neighbors can improve growth and deter pests; a few combinations are best avoided.