How to grow Broad beans in the UK
Big seeds that are easy for small hands, and tough enough to sow in autumn.
- DifficultyEasy peasy
- WhereBeds or Pots
- Grows to100cm
- Spacing20cm
- Time to first pickabout 14 weeks
When to sow, plant and harvest broad beans
| Sow outdoors | mid October to late November or mid February to late April |
|---|---|
| Pick | early June to mid August |
Dates are for central England. Sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland, and up to two weeks earlier in the south and south west. Get the dates for your postcode.
Sowing it outdoors
- Pull out any weeds and rake the top of your bed until it's crumbly, like cake crumbs
- Make a little line in the soil (5cm deep) with your finger or a stick
- Drop the seeds in, about 20cm apart in the row, with rows 45cm apart
- Gently cover them with soil and pat it down
- Water with a watering can that has a sprinkler head
- Push in a label so you remember what's there
Top tips for growing broad beans
- Autumn-sown ones are ready earliest - choose the variety 'Aquadulce Claudia'.
Looking after broad beans
- At planting: Check your broad beans - if mice have dug seeds up (little holes, gaps in the row), sow more in the gaps
- Week 8: When the first beans appear, pinch off the very top of each plant - it stops blackfly
Soil and feeding
Any decent soil - they make their own food from the air!. Peas and beans take nitrogen from the air, so they don't need rich soil. Some compost in the planting trench helps hold water.
Pests and problems
- Mice: dig up and eat big seeds like peas, beans and sweetcorn
- Wood pigeons: strip the soft young leaves off peas, beans and cabbage-family plants
- Blackfly & greenfly: tiny bugs that crowd the tips and suck the sap
- Bend canes or plastic pipe into hoops over the row
- Stretch netting over the hoops, pulled tight so birds can't get tangled
- Peg or weigh down the edges so nothing can sneak underneath
- Check it every day
Harvesting and eating broad beans
Pick pods when you can feel the beans inside, before the pods go lumpy and leathery.
How to eat them: Pop the beans out, boil for 3 minutes, and squash onto toast.
Storing broad beans
Keeps about 5 days.
- Keep in their pods in the fridge
Freeze well: pod them, blanch them (dip in boiling water for 2 minutes, then straight into icy water - ask a grown-up to help), dry and bag. Keeps 12 months.
Good varieties of broad beans
- Aquadulce Claudia: The best one to sow in autumn - tough enough for winter.
- The Sutton: A short, bushy bean - great for small beds and pots.
- Witkiem Manita: Sow in spring for one of the earliest crops.
Companion planting
Grows well with
- Nasturtiums: nasturtiums lure blackfly away from the beans
- New potatoes: beans add goodness to the soil for the potatoes
- Calendula (pot marigold): brings hoverflies, whose babies eat blackfly
- Poached egg plant: brings hoverflies, whose babies eat blackfly
- Sunflowers: greenfly and blackfly often go for the sunflowers instead
- Cornflowers: brings hoverflies and ladybirds that eat blackfly
Keep away from
Saving your own broad beans seed
Late summer, when the pods are dry and rattle.
- Leave a few of the best pods on the plant - don't pick them
- Wait until the pods turn brown and papery and you can hear the seeds rattle
- Pick them on a dry day and pop the seeds out
- Spread them on a plate indoors for 2 weeks to dry completely
Things to build for broad beans
Where to buy broad beans seeds
Thompson & Morgan · Suttons · Amazon
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Broad beans questions
When should I sow broad beans in the UK?
In the UK, sow broad beans outdoors from mid October to late November or mid February to late April. These dates suit central England; sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland and up to two weeks earlier in the mild south and south west.
When can I pick broad beans?
Broad beans is ready from early June to mid August. Pick pods when you can feel the beans inside, before the pods go lumpy and leathery.
How long do broad beans take to grow?
Roughly 14 weeks from sowing or planting until the first harvest.
Are broad beans easy to grow?
Broad beans are rated 'easy peasy' for beginners, and can be grown in the ground or a raised bed or in pots and containers.
Plan your own garden: it tells you what to do and when, for your postcode.
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