Fava bean
Vicia faba
Ground coverPlacenta
ProductionNitrogen fixer
A fast, cold-hardy legume workhorse for winter beds: fixes nitrogen, feeds you, and chops down into rich green mulch. Just watch for aphids and fungal spotting in damp weather.
Tolerances & traits
- Strata
- Ground cover
- Lifecycle
- Placenta
- Soil preference
- Loam, Clay
- Soil pH range
- 6 – 7.5
- Min. temperature
- -10°C
- Min. rainfall
- 450 mm/year
- Wind tolerance
- Medium
- Frost tolerance
- High
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Irrigation needed
- Medium
How to manage it
Sow as a winter or early-spring annual; chop tops at first flowering for nitrogen-rich mulch, or let pods mature for food. Tall varieties benefit from staking or windbreak support.
Watch out for
People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must avoid eating the beans. Prone to black bean aphid and chocolate spot fungus in wet, humid conditions; self-fertile so no pollination partner needed.
Design your line to see how your land fits Fava bean.
Start designing your line →Related species