Vicia faba
Broad bean
Common names: Field bean, Swollen bean, Puff bean
Photo: Stefan.lefnaer · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The broad bean is one of the oldest cultivated plants in Europe and is remarkably cold‑tolerant, early sowing from February produces thick, buttery seeds by June. It strongly fixes nitrogen and is an excellent green manure. Its flowers emit a sweet fragrance and attract bees.
Care instructions
Sow the large seeds early, from February to April, about 5 cm deep directly in the bed; they germinate at temperatures just a few degrees above freezing. Slightly mound the rows and remove suckers if attacked by the black bean aphid. Water evenly during flowering and harvest the pods when the seeds are clearly visible but the pod still has a bright eye.
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
loamy, humus-rich, well-drained, nutrient-rich
Feeding
Light feeder
Companion planting
Good neighbors
cabbage family (Brassicaceae)
particularly well establishedLeguminous plants collect nitrogen in the soil, from which Brassicaceae benefit as heavy feeders.
For example White cabbageKohlrabiRadishKalebroccolicauliflower and 34 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
carrot family (Apiaceae)
Peas and beans provide carrot and celery with nitrogen and grow as shallow-rooted plants without competition next to each other.
For example celery rootDillParsleyCarrot fennelCorianderCelery (Stalk Celery) and 18 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
Rather not
amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae)
particularly well establishedAllium species inhibit the nitrogen‑fixing rhizobia of legumes through their root exudates, which slows their growth.
For example ChivesDaffodilRocamboleElephant garlicRed Onionshallot and 9 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop‑rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
Varieties
4 varieties‚Aquadulce’
You can plant *‚Aquadulce’* in mild climates as early as October or November, and it will give you the first harvests especially early in May.
‚Dreifache Weiße’
You will find *‚Dreifache Weiße’*, a traditional, white‑seeded variety with large, flat seeds and very wide pods.
‚Hangdown Grünkernig’
A robust heirloom variety that owes its name to the downward hanging pods.
‚Witkiem Manita’
One of the most reliable early varieties for the home garden: Witkiem Manita grows away briskly after sowing and delivers the first fat pods as early as June.
Notes from real gardens
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From the magazine
Sowing Broad Beans Early: the head start that outruns aphids
Broad beans are the frost-hardy early birds of the bed. Sow from CW 8 and you harvest early and outgrow the black bean aphid. Here is how sowing, care and harvest work.
Bean variety: bush, pole, runner, broad and lima at a glance
Five bean types, five roles in the garden and the kitchen. Which bean goes in when, which one climbs, why they feed the soil and why you must never eat one raw.