Faba bean: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
How to sow faba beans outdoors
Choose the faba bean sowing period according to climate, variety and your purpose. An autumn sowing can suit winter green manure if the variety tolerates local conditions. For seeds, spring sowing or autumn sowing suited to a mild region follows another timetable. Do not treat February as a month that is automatically free of frost.
Prepare a bright site with workable soil that does not remain waterlogged. Remove competing weeds and avoid working frozen or sticky ground. Sow in rows and follow the depth and spacing recommended for your seed lot. A dense cover and a crop grown for seeds do not necessarily need the same layout. Cover the seeds and firm gently to give them good contact with the soil.
Water if the ground dries during emergence without saturating it. Mark rows and monitor young shoots, particularly where slugs or missing seeds are present. For green manure, plan the following crop and cutting time now. For a seed crop, allow enough time for flowering and ripening rather than expecting an immediate edible harvest.
When do faba beans flower?
How to harvest and store faba bean seeds
