Anyone grow Fava Beans?
 

I just got an order from Seeds from Italy (in two days no less!). One of the things I'd ordered were Fava Beans and not really knowing much about them, except they are my mom's favorite, and we always ate them growing up, I'm reading. One thing I found interesting is that they are a very good cover crop to grow aside from all of the health benefits.

Anyone ever grow these? Supposedly you can winter them over too in warmer climates as they do like cold.

I grow a small patch of Windsor Fava every year. I wish I had more space. I grew up with them as my Italian grandparents grew a lot of them. I've always loved the taste of Fava Beans, cooked or raw.
They won't winter over up here, but they do need a cold start in the spring. Pretty much like growing peas, it one of the first seeds you plant in early spring.
Since they are legume, they make a good edible cover crop.

Ray, I've heard of people growing tomatoes through vetch, I was wondering if you could do the same with the favas...plant early, and then just put some tomato plants in between. Supposedly it would increase yields. I have no idea much about these beans though, don't know how tall they get as that information wasn't available. I got Super Aquadulce beans.

Probably not a good idea, Fava isn't a low growing vetch, they get anywhere from 2.5Ft to over 3Ft. tall with broad leaves and side branches coming from the soil line. By the time you planted your tomatoes, the Fava would have already reached a appreciable size and would shade out the young Tomato plants. I plant Fava in very early April, so by the time late May rolls around to plant the tomato seedlings, the Fava is already quite tall and still growing.
I usually grow radishes as a companion crop in between the rows of Fava plants since Radish grows faster and is harvested before the Fava is tall enough to shade out the Radishes. At least that's the plan, it doesn't always work out that way. If you get a mild spring, not too cold and not too wet, those Fava plants can grow quite fast and tall. In 2010, which had a spring like that, I had Fava plants so tall I had to stake them to keep them from falling over from the wind and the weight of the pods.

I added a picture from June 17, 2010 so you can see what I mean

oh wow those do get kinda tall, i see what you're saying. No trellising normally? I wondered about that too. Good to know it makes a great green manure though, and would be great for the compost heap.

No trellising, they're not a climbing vine. Straight up thick stalks. I staked some of them just to keep them from leaning over into the lanes between the beds. Planted on a large scale, that would be impractical. There are only about 50 plants in that bed and for the most part they usually hold each other up.
As a green manure, they create a lot of biomass that breaks down very quickly in a compost heap or tilled back into the soil.

Important thing is that favas don't like dry soil. You can start them from direct sow into the soil, or indoors - but then you have to be very carefull to do not disturb the roots while transplanting.

Good point, they do best in evenly moist soil. I've never grown them as transplants but I have been pre-sprouting the seeds indoors to get them past the germination stage, they sprout much faster at room temperature than they do in cool soil. I soak the seeds in water overnight and then place them in a container on moist coffee filters until they sprout which only takes about 3-5 days.

Favas are THE very best trap crop for aphids in zone 7. They are fine one day and the next (it seems) they are covered. I pinch the infested top out and spray the stalks with soap solution.

Fava is the best trap crop for Black Aphids anywhere. I have noticed that the Aphids are more prevalent in years when the plants are under stress. In 2010 when the growing conditions were perfect, I had virtually no aphids. Last year after there was excessive rainfall and a very cold spring, my Fava had lots of Aphids.

Lakelady, what supplier do you order from in Italy? Just wondering because I have such a preference for Italian veggies (I'm half Italian) and I would be really interested in ordering directly from there for some of the Italian bean varieties.

I grow these very year, several varieties.We called them broad beans in the UK so if looking for varieties look under this name too.

Some are sown in the fall ,Aquadulce is perhaps the best one for that, but many are better sown in the start of the year..right now is the best time for my area. You can direct sow but I prefer to start them in small pots and put them out as plants.They are very hardy and can take a frost.

They come dwarf and taller growing ones but none are as tallas pole beans.

Longpods types uaually have 8 seeds, Windsor types have only 4 and are shorter.

They don't climb but can get to 4 feet and need support as they can fall over.

They are not fussy about soil except they don't like it waterlogged or very acid.

I plant mine in double rows 9 inches apart 2 inches deep, seeds 6 inches apart and 30 iches between the double rows. Each double row then get a pole at each corner with string wrapped all the way at two or three heights round rather like a narrow boxing ring, this prevents them falling over, which they will do if not supported.

They can be eaten whole in the pods when very young or shelled when large enough, don't leave them to grow huge as they tend to get tough.

This year I am growing the following
Grano Violetto a lovely heritage variety
Aquadulce my old friend..
Crimson Flowered, (most have white flowers0

I have just a few seeds of a couple of heirlooms which I may isolate and keep for the seeds this year too.

They do attract black aphids so pinch out the growing tops when this starts, and by the way you can eat the well washed tips so don't waste them.

Very popular in the UK, broadies are one of the first veggies to stsart so makes me feel the year has begun.

Good Luck

XX Jeannine

My little favas are sprouting.. this year I'm not going to eat them, just to do some selection.. One of the sprouts is pink:D

Hi, I love Fava beans. I have three InnTainers (SWCs) that are made from 18-gallon SWCs per Ray N.'s instructions. They house 2 Dwarf plants each through the winter, but a series of disasters struck those plants and they all ended up outdoors in their rack on wheels where a recent rain/wind storm did them in good. This weekend, I'd like to pull out the diseased, rotting tomato remnants and plant Favas in the InnTainers. I believe beans are unaffected by the various nematodes, diseases, fungi, etc. that attack tomato plants.

I'm thinking of planting a double row down the length of each InnTainer, maybe get four seeds per row and two rows per tainer, so 8 total. I have the tainers setting in racks, so I could run trellis netting across the length of the rack to provide some support, maybe in addition to small bamboo stakes.

The soil is a bit acidic in the 5.8 to 6.5 range. What pH should I target? I'll have to add lime it seems. How do you feed Favas? Regularly through the season, or slow release ferts at planting? Any soil amendments recommended? Full sun? Finally, where is the best place to procure seeds? I think I'd like a tall variety that will fill up the volume of my 6+' rack.

I have no experience growing Favas, just making succotash with them, which I love. I appreciate the advice.

Thanks, Naysen

You don`t need the netting. Just have a stake at each corner and rune strings round the stakes at two heights to stopm them toppling over. most grow to about 3 feet.

For containers and spring sowing may I suggest the variety The Sutton, it is a great bean but the height is short so will suit your containers better.

Also get them in if you can.. they don`t need warm weather. My spring ones were planted out three days ago.

XX Jeannine

Thanks Jeannine. Why do you think the shorter height in container would be preferable? I have about 10" of soil depth. Is it mainly because of staking concerns? Or limited root space?

Thanks,
Naysen

The plants are heavy feeders and can grow quite big and wide. The Sutton is more compact, only about 20 inches high. Frankly they may well grow in the depth you suggest , I have never done it but I have grown The Sutton in containers with no problem.
I would love to hear your results.

Do you know what kind you are planning to grow. I may have a few seeds I can spare but I don`t have The Sutton. How many seeds would you need. Let me know and I will check my stash.

XX Jeannine

Jeannine, this is all new to me, so I don't have a plan laid out as to what to grow yet. If I stick to my preliminary plan of 8 seeds per Tainer, then I guess I need to source about 30 seeds, give or take. I need to do more research to understand the various varieties, pluses and minuses, etc. I need to find a good online seed store to get the purchases in.
Thanks,
Naysen

Naysen, a good place to find out about various varieties in Nickys Nursery in the UK, they have about 10 varieties, you need to look under broad beans which is the English name for favas.

Nickys send to me in Canada so well might supply you if you can't find what you want in the US .Postage is sensible and they are very qiuick to mail seeds.

XX Jeannine

Naysen, get some combination bean/pea innoculant for those Tainers if you are going to experiment with Fava. Fava does best in a slightly acidic PH, 6.5-7.0 would be OK. From what I've read, Fava roots exude a load of low PH organic acids around the rhizosphere, so its important the the PH of the soil not be too acidic to begin with.
I've never grown Fava myself in containers, only in the ground, it sounds like an interesting experiment.

I have the aquadulce I got from Seeds from Italy, all ready to go except for the innoculant which I need to buy. I think they grow about 3' also. Seems like you are supposed to plant them as soon as possible when the ground softens so get them in pretty quickly.

Do you really NEED the innoculant? I've heard people say there was no difference with or without it for their beans (not favas).

Sample Seed Shop has them and Victory also has a few varieties, and both ship fast.

I have planted with and without and frankly have never seen any difference. I do usually start them in three inch pots then put out the plants but this year I have just planted them direct. Aqudulce is a good one and will fall plant in mild areas.

Good luck, if I can help in anyway I will, keep intouch as they grow, you may need to pinch out the tops later on, etc

XX Jeannine

[QUOTE=RayR;260166]Naysen, get some combination bean/pea innoculant for those Tainers if you are going to experiment with Fava. Fava does best in a slightly acidic PH, 6.5-7.0 would be OK. From what I've read, Fava roots exude a load of low PH organic acids around the rhizosphere, so its important the the PH of the soil not be too acidic to begin with.
I've never grown Fava myself in containers, only in the ground, it sounds like an interesting experiment.[/QUOTE]
Ray, I somehow missed your post. I believe the soil is already high 5's to low 6's in the pH range. If I understood your post, you're warning that Fava roots will actually release acids that will slowly acidify my soil further, in which case I'd best increase the pH before planting. That sound about right? If so, I'll mix in lime before planting. Can Fava beans handle warm spring/summer weather, or is this a fall spring only type crop?

Thanks,
Naysen

Here Naysen, [URL="http://www.darrolshillingburg.com/GardenSite/InterplantedRoots.html"]I found a link to an article[/URL] that illustrates what effect Fava has on the soil. Of course this shows how Fava can be used interplanted with corn in alkaline soils to improve nutrient uptake in the corn plants, but you can see how acid the exudes are from Fava roots. The experts say Fava yields best in slightly acidic soil, near neutral, which works fine up here since our native soils are typically PH 6.5-7.3 and they buffer extra acidity pretty well. That's not to say Fava won't grow in more acid soils, but I suspect that the yield of beans would much less.

Fava is pretty much like peas, it likes cool to moderate temperatures, once it gets into those sweltering hot days in the 80's and up, it wants to go to seed and die.

[QUOTE=RayR;260898]Here Naysen, [URL="http://www.darrolshillingburg.com/GardenSite/InterplantedRoots.html"]I found a link to an article[/URL] that illustrates what effect Fava has on the soil. Of course this shows how Fava can be used interplanted with corn in alkaline soils to improve nutrient uptake in the corn plants, but you can see how acid the exudes are from Fava roots. The experts say Fava yields best in slightly acidic soil, near neutral, which works fine up here since our native soils are typically PH 6.5-7.3 and they buffer extra acidity pretty well. That's not to say Fava won't grow in more acid soils, but I suspect that the yield of beans would much less.

Fava is pretty much like peas, it likes cool to moderate temperatures, once it gets into those sweltering hot days in the 80's and up, it wants to go to seed and die.[/QUOTE]

I keep meaning to plant favas as a cover crop in the fall and havent gotten to it. This year I'm making it a priority, as I have more beds and don't need all my beds for a winter garden. This is very interesting about the pH effects, since I'm always fighting a high pH.

Ray, thanks for passing along that link. I had never seen that chart depicting the effects of soil pH on nutrient availability. It's curious that based solely on the elements shown in the chart, a pH of 5 would be optimal for elements, save Fe, Zn, and Mo, but we target closers to 6.5 in tomato gardening, which seems to only optimize for Mo. I assume there are other reasons for maintaining a higher than 5 pH than uptake availability of the elements.

Do you believe I can get a reasonable harvest here in Sacramento, CA if I were to plant Fava seeds by start of April? It could get quite hot (well above 80F) in late June into July, 2-3 months down the road. Is that enough time to get a crop out of the beans?

Thanks again.
-naysen

There are early and main crop varieties. I generally plant two or three lots , but you can plant monthly. I start in February and plant up till May. Use the hardy early ones first then switch to the maincrops.You will have beans through the summer.

They will take heat, but they will also grow in the cool of Spring, this causes some confusion as folks think they HAVE to be grown in the cool and thery actually don't.

XX Jeannine

Thanks Jeanine. I find myself flipping back and forth on growing Fava. Maybe I will grow it after all. I've purchased some inoculant from Gurney's, now I just need to get the seeds here fast.
-naysen

Juat a bit of advice, eat them when they are young otherwise they tend to get tough, shelled of course, and if you eat them very very young you can eat them shell and all . I think that is an aquired taste so try it but don't condemn the beans if you don't like them

Pich out the tops if the black flkies take up residence but wash the tops thoroughly and eat them.

Being English I could not imagine a garden without broadies.

I am growing some very old heirloom ones this year along with my usuals.

Go, go for it, they are a very easy crop. Don't let it get too compicated by reading too much.

In the UK they get bunged in the ground in February and that is basically it. I said earlier I usually start in 3 inch pots but that is only to make my rows more accurate..no gaps.

XX Jeannine

Yes they are easy to grow, I don't have the space to grow more than one patch of them a year, so I'm particular as to getting the best yield I can. Last year was a struggle, the spring was very cold and very very wet. The plants were stressed and the black aphids came.
Up here, I start them in the first week of April, March is typically too wet to work the soil or the ground is still frozen, but this year I might start earlier if the weather stays mild.

Jeannine, have you ever eaten the [URL="http://www.darrolshillingburg.com/GardenSite/FavaBeans_Greens.html"]greens[/URL]? I've been around Fava my whole life and never eaten the greens.