Welcome to our section on tips for growing broad beans.
Here we will give you advice, tips and guidance on sowing, growing and harvesting broad beans in the Uk and the rest of the world.
In this section of our website you will find out how to grow broad beans with tips and advice
Sowing and Planting
Broad beans need a nice sunny sheltered area. This is because when they are bigger they are at risk to wind damage so need to be protected from this.
When to plant
Broad beans can be planted from October right through to April. If you are wanting a nice early crop. You can sow the seed in early Autumn only as long as the soil is still warm. Make sure you choose a nice hardy variety though.
If you are waiting till spring sow outside. If the soil is cool you can warm it up by putting polythene over it to warm it up – otherwise you can plant them indoors – one bean per pot but make sure they are used to the weather outside before planting them out so you don’t shock them.
Varieties
- Aquadulce Claudia
- Crimson Flowered
- The Sutton
- De Monica
- Imperial Green Longpod
Planting
Broad beans are excellent croppers, so once they get going you need to aim for a series of successful growings of around 10-14 seeds.
To plant use a dibber and plant either in single rows or double rows at a depth of around 5 – 7 cm. They need planting around 10 inches apart. Make sure the rows are staggered so that it helps with the space in between.
Growing
Once the beans start to grow they will need supporting as they get bigger so that they don’t topple over. You can either use chicken wire, netting or even you could recycle old pruning that are quite long twigs. Make sure you fasten them to the structure you make.
When you start to see beans appear at the base of your plant you can start to pinch them out. This will encourage the plant to focus on the beans. To do this pinch off or nip off the top of the stems with two pairs of leaves on. These can actually be eaten
Harvesting
Make sure you harvest beans when they are small, just before the the flesh on the beans gets to bitter. You are best taking the beans off from the base of the plant and working your way upwards on the plant. The best way is to use scissors to snip the beans off.
We hope you have found or tips for growing broad beans useful!
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