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Vicia faba
Fabaceae FAMILY

Vicia faba

Vicia faba

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

Although commonly used as an edible seed, there are reports that eating the seed of this plant, particularly the immature seed, can cause the disease 'Favism' in susceptible people[1, 2, 3]. Inhaling the pollen can also cause the disease[1, 4, 3]. Favism, which is a severe haemolytic anaemia due to an inherited enzymatic deficiency[4], only occurs in cases of excessive consumption of the raw seed (no more details are given[PFAF]) and when the person is genetically inclined towards the disease[1, 5]. About 1% of Caucasians and 15% of Negroids are susceptible to the disease[4].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual
GrowthFast

Broad beans originated in warm temperate areas and can be cultivated from the cold temperate zone to the subtropics, and also at higher elevations from 1,300 - 3,800 metres in the tropics. It may flower well in the lowland tropics, but usually does not produce pods[3]. The ideal temperature range in the growing season is between 18 - 27°c, at higher temperatures the flowers are often aborted[6]. The plant requires an annual rainfall of 700 - 1,000mm, of which more than 60% should occur during the growing period[3]. Prefers a fairly heavy loam but succeeds in a sunny position in most soils that are well-drained[7, 6]. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Dislikes dry conditions according to some reports[8, 6], whilst another says that it is drought tolerant once established[9]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 to 7[6]. There are two main forms of this species - small seeded forms that are more commonly grown for feeding livestock and as a green manure, and larger seeded forms that are usually grown for human food. Of the larger seeded forms there are two main types:- 'Longpod' beans are the more hardy and can be sown in the autumn in cool temperate areas. 'Windsor' beans, which are considered to be finer flavoured, are less tolerant of the cold and so are best sown in spring[9]. Autumn sown varieties are more susceptible to 'chocolate spot' fungus, this problem can be alleviated by the addition of potash to the soil[8]. Black fly can be a major problem. Autumn sown crops are less likely to be affected. Pinching out the soft tips of the plants, one they are tall enough and are beginning to flower, can reduce the problem since the blackfly always start on the soft shoots and then spread to the older stems. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[6]. When removing plant remains at the end of the growing season, it is best to only remove the aerial parts of the plant, leaving the roots in the ground to decay and release their nitrogen.

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 24 hours in warm water and then sow in situ in succession from late winter until early summer. Germination should take place in about 7 - 10 days. The earlier sowings should be of suitably hardy varieties such as the 'Longpods' whilst later sowings can be of the tastier varieties such as the 'Windsors'. By making fresh sowings every 3 weeks you will have a continuous supply of fresh young seeds from early summer until early autumn. If you want to grow the beans to maturity then the seed needs to be sown by the middle of spring. You may need to protect the seed from the ravages of mice. Another sowing can be made in middle to late autumn. This has to be timed according to the area where the plants are being grown. The idea is that the plants will make some growth in the autumn and be perhaps 15 - 20cm tall by the time the colder part of winter sets in. As long as the winter is not too severe, the plants should stand well and will grow away rapidly in the spring to produce an earlier crop. The plants will also be less likely to be attacked by blackfly. Make sure you choose a suitably hardy variety for this sowing. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Vicia+faba>

Pollinators

Bees, Insects

References

  1. [1]Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. — Chiej. R. · MacDonald · 1984 · ISBN 0-356-10541-5 ↩︎Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
  2. [2]Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. — Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. · HMSO · 1984 · ISBN 0112425291 ↩︎Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock.
  3. [3]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  4. [4]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  5. [5]Earth Medicine, Earth Food. — Weiner. M. A. · Ballantine Books · 1980 · ISBN 0-449-90589-6 ↩︎A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.
  6. [6]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  7. [7]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  8. [8]Green Manures. — Woodward. L. Burge. P. · Elm Farm Research Centre. · 1982 · ISBN - ↩︎Green manure crops for temperate areas. Quite a lot of information on a number of species.
  9. [9]Fruits of the Earth. — Bianchini. F., Corbetta. F. and Pistoia. M. ↩︎Lovely pictures, a very readable book.
  10. [10]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  11. [11]New Vegetable Growers Handbook. — Simons. · Penguin · 1977 · ISBN 0-14-046-050-0 ↩︎A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
  12. [12]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  13. [13]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  14. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎