Bean (Broad bean / Faba bean / Field bean)

Plant family

Legumes (Fabaceae)

Also known as

Fava Bean, Tic Bean, Tick Bean, Horse Bean

Season Overview

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Wet

Soil

Medium (loamy)

Nutrient requirement

Medium

Plant distance

10 cm

Row spacing

60 cm

Seeding depth

5 cm

Instructions

End of February

Sowing

Description

The field bean (also called broad bean, cattle bean, broad bean, or broad bean) belongs to the legume family. This makes it a good precursor crop for nutrient-demanding crops. Its deep roots go into symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and nitrogen is enriched in the soil. Even though it is called field bean, it does not belong to the beans, but to the genus of vetches. The field bean is not particularly sensitive to frost - on the contrary, a cold stimulus promotes its germination. Therefore, it is suitable for locations where many beans are already too cold. Usually summer field beans are planted, but there are also winter field beans, these can be sown as early as autumn. They ripen 1-2 weeks earlier than summer field beans and thus cope somewhat better with early summer - drought.

Growing tips

When growing field beans, you can remember one thing: sow early and deep! Sowing too late often leads to aphid infestation and gives unwanted weeds a head start. Sowing deeper has a positive effect on stability. Direct sowing is possible from the end of February to the end of March. Alternatively, you can pre-grow cuttings from the end of January. After about four weeks, plant them out in suitable weather conditions. Depending on the variety, it takes around 100 days to harvest. You can mound the plants for a better stand. Otherwise, they are very undemanding.