How far apart should I plant broad bean?

20 cm apart in the row, with rows 45 cm apart. In a square foot garden, that's 4 per square.

What grows well with broad bean?

Potato, Carrot, Lettuce, Spinach. Keep it away from garlic, onion, shallot, leek.

Broad bean

Vicia faba · Fava bean in the US

In a typical UK garden, sow indoors early February to early March, sow outside late February to late April, plant out early March to early April, and harvest mid-May to late July.

When to sow, plant and harvest

Frost dates

Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.

Sow indoors: early February to early March
Sow outdoors: late February to late Aprilmid-October to late November
Plant out: early March to early April
Harvest: mid-May to late July

Spacing: 20 cm apart, rows 45 cm apart
Square foot: 4 per square (30 cm squares)
Sowing depth: 5 cm
Ready in: 80 to 100 days from sowing
Grows to: 1 m
Hardiness: Hardy to about -10 °C
Sun: Full sun
Crops for: About 6 weeks

Growing tip

Pinch out the tips once the first pods set to deter blackfly.

Neighbours

Grows well with

Keep apart from

Legumes are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works

Guides

When to plant

Broad beans sown in autumn crop weeks before spring sowings

Sow broad beans outdoors from mid-October to late November for the earliest pods in late spring, using a hardy variety such as Aquadulce Claudia. Otherwise sow outdoors from late February to late April, or indoors in February.

More legumes

Where these figures come from

Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For broad bean, we used:

Grow broad bean with VegLog

Add broad bean to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.