How to PLANT BEANS step by step - Guide with Steps and Tips

The bean, with a scientific name Vicia faba, is a legume plant which is especially useful as a fall or winter crop due to its ability to enrich the soil by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. Thanks to this, sowing beans in our garden during the cold months, when in many cases the land is not used so much, it is a great method to return nutrients to the soil in a totally natural way.

If you want to learn how to plant beans step by step In your own garden, join us in this Green Ecologist article where you will find a practical guide that will help you to have this plant at home easily and, thus, you will be able to enjoy these fresh and ecological legumes.

When to plant beans

The most common is plant the beans in autumn, between the months of September and October. As the bean has the ability to renew nitrogen in the soil, it is a very good option to take advantage of the cold months and give the earth a rest from more voracious species.

However, in areas with very cold winters it is also common to plant beans later, already entering spring, to protect them from excessively low temperatures.

How to plant broad beans step by step

Take note of these tips and steps for planting fava beans at home:

Prepare the land: As it is not a demanding plant in terms of nutrients, the only thing that will be necessary to contribute to the soil is some organic matter in the form of manure, compost or worm castings. The broad bean does not really need a large contribution from it, but since it is common to use this crop to renew the land, it is worth leaving it enriched for the next crop.
Soak the beans: Once you have the enriched and aerated soil, let the beans soak in a bowl or jar overnight to help stimulate their germination process.
Plant the beans: When planting them, respect approximately 20 cm of distance between holes and about 30 cm of distance between different rows, if you put several. It is highly recommended to put two seeds per hole, to ensure that at least one of them germinates. If it turns out that both germinate, later it will be necessary to practice a thinning, leaving only the strongest plant.
Water the newly planted beans: As always, just after planting it is necessary to water them abundantly and keep the soil moist until the plants have germinated, which tends to take around 10 days. Depending on the species, in a time between 60 and 120 days our beans should be ready for harvest.

It is also possible to plant the beans in pots to have them on terraces or balconies. In these cases, it will be necessary a container of at least 5 liters and follow the steps mentioned above in preparing the soil.
It will be important to give the pot some support if there are strong winds in the area, since the plant could topple over.

Broad beans - basic care

These are the main factors that you should take into account about the basic care of broad bean plants:

Light

This is one of the most important points when growing beans, it may be the most important. These plants require a lots of sunlight to grow, so they are not a suitable crop for indoor or semi-shady conditions. Locate the bean plants in the brightest spot in your garden or terrace.

Temperature

It is an undemanding plant with temperature, although it does best in temperate climates and without great thermal variations. Even so, as long as the temperatures are not extreme, your beans will develop properly, since they can tolerate frosts of a few degrees below zero. However, with temperatures above 20 ºC, especially at planting time, the seeds will not germinate properly.

I usually

As we have already mentioned, the broad bean enriches the soil rather than depleting it, so a small contribution of organic matter that provides it with some phosphorus and potassium will be sufficient. Mind you, when it comes to drainage, you need a good one. The ideal pH is between 7.3 and 8.2.

Irrigation

The bean needs a fairly constant humidity, since small droughts or lack of water can do them a lot of damage. However, as in most cases, this does not mean that they can tolerate waterlogging, which can cause fungus or root rot. The most appropriate, therefore, is to resort to drip irrigation or, instead, to frequent low-volume waterings that do not flood.

We recommend you learn How to make a home drip irrigation system to use with broad bean plants, as well as learn about some of the best homemade fungicides, in case you want to use them as a preventive measure or in case you need to use them on broad beans.