Skip to main content
Sowing Broad Beans from seed
- Either sow your seeds in late autumn or early spring
- Choose a sunny position, sheltered from wind with well drained, fertile soil
- Push seeds 5cm into soil, at 40cm intervals & water in
Planting Broad Bean plug plants
- Sunny position, sheltered from wind
- Well drained, fertile soil
- Need a support – 1m bamboo cane stake is best. Tie in with garden twine as plant grows taller.
- 40cm apart
- Don’t plant out until all risk of frost is past (keep them in pots in greenhouse or sunny windowsill in the meantime)
- Protect from slugs (beer traps/slug barrier)
Growing Tips
- Water well and regularly. Don’t let them dry out.
- Keep weeds down.
- Protect from slugs
Problems
- Yellow/patchy/brown foliage - not enough nutrients/water - water well and regularly (so that soil doesn’t dry out), use a liquid feed fortnightly
- Brown spots on leaves – chocolate spot fungus common in damp weather conditions. Keep at bay by planting at least 40cm apart, keeping weeds down.
- Not many fruits - poor pollination. Plant edible/companion flowers to encourage more bees etc.
- Leaf damage - slugs/snails - use beer traps. Do nightly slug patrol.
- Aphids/blackfly - these tiny black critters can sometimes be a problem. Spray off with hose or pick off foliage that are affected.
Harvesting & Storing
- Broad beans should be ready to harvest in early/mid summer
- Pick pods regularly when they reach approx 8-10cm +
- They will keep in their pods for several days (although are best used fresh) in a cool, dry place or in the fridge.
- Broad beans freeze well - remove from the pods and pop them in a freezer bag. No need to blanche.
