Broad beans

Broad beans: plant 20 cm (8 in) apart in the row and 45 cm (18 in) between rows, 4 per square. Good neighbours: Summer savory, Winter savory, Carrot.

Key facts

Spacing in the row	20 cm (8 in)
Between rows	45 cm (18 in)
In a 30 cm (1 ft) square	4 per square
Sun	Full sun, 6–8 hours a day
Root depth	25 cm (10 in)
Height when grown	90 cm (35 in)
Crop rotation group	Legumes
Support	None needed

Sowing and germination

How it is started	Sown straight into the bed
Seeds per hole	1
Plants kept after thinning	1
Seeds per metre of row	5
Sowing depth	5 cm (2 in)
Soil temperature	from 5 °C, best 12–20 °C
Days to emerge	10–20 days
Light while germinating	Light makes no difference
Before sowing	nothing needed
When to sow	Outdoors before the last frost; soil at least 5 °C

From seedling to plant

Pricking out	sown where it grows
Takes transplanting	Badly, sow where it grows
Life cycle	Annual
Cold tolerance	Hardy, takes hard frost → takes a light frost
Soil	Ordinary garden soil, free draining, pH 6–7
In a pot	12 L, 30 cm (11.8 in)
Watering	Water when the soil is dry two fingers down; at flowering, while pods fill
Feeding	Little; at planting
Support and training	A stake; pinch the tips, tie in as it grows

Harvest and planning

Days to first harvest	80–100 days, from sowing
Ready when	The pods are full but still green
Harvest window	Picked again and again, 3–5 weeks
Sow again every	14 days
Typical yield	1.5–3 kg per m²
Botanical family	Fabaceae
Watch out for	Blackfly, chocolate spot

Good neighbours

Why, with the sources →

Plan Broad beans in your garden

Open the free planner, drop Broad beans onto a bed and see how many plants fit.

Start Planning Your Garden

Sowing and harvest

Sow outdoors	Feb–Apr
Harvest	Jun–Aug

My dates for this crop

My country Last spring frost where I live

Give the date once and this page, the sowing calendar and the planner all follow it.

Months for a temperate climate: about a month later in the north and a month earlier in the south. Give your own last frost date for exact dates.

What to plant next to Broad beans →

From the same family

Plants of the Fabaceae family share diseases and pests, so they follow each other in the rotation only after a break.

What to plant after Broad beans

Crops that still have time to grow on the same spot once it is lifted, from another rotation group.

Sources

The values on this page marked as checked come from these sources: spacing, sowing depth, germination, soil, timing and safety notes, each against the source named here.

Favism: case report and review — PubMed Central (NIH) for: safety; checked 2026-10-28

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