Anyone grow Fava Beans?

[z_willus_d]

Thanks Jeannine. Why do you think the shorter height in container would be preferable? I have about 10" of soil depth. Is it mainly because of staking concerns? Or limited root space?

Thanks,
Naysen

[Jeannine Anne]

The plants are heavy feeders and can grow quite big and wide. The Sutton is more compact, only about 20 inches high. Frankly they may well grow in the depth you suggest , I have never done it but I have grown The Sutton in containers with no problem.
I would love to hear your results.

Do you know what kind you are planning to grow. I may have a few seeds I can spare but I don`t have The Sutton. How many seeds would you need. Let me know and I will check my stash.

XX Jeannine

[z_willus_d]

Jeannine, this is all new to me, so I don't have a plan laid out as to what to grow yet. If I stick to my preliminary plan of 8 seeds per Tainer, then I guess I need to source about 30 seeds, give or take. I need to do more research to understand the various varieties, pluses and minuses, etc. I need to find a good online seed store to get the purchases in.
Thanks,
Naysen

[Jeannine Anne]

Naysen, a good place to find out about various varieties in Nickys Nursery in the UK, they have about 10 varieties, you need to look under broad beans which is the English name for favas.

Nickys send to me in Canada so well might supply you if you can't find what you want in the US .Postage is sensible and they are very qiuick to mail seeds.

XX Jeannine

[RayR]

Naysen, get some combination bean/pea innoculant for those Tainers if you are going to experiment with Fava. Fava does best in a slightly acidic PH, 6.5-7.0 would be OK. From what I've read, Fava roots exude a load of low PH organic acids around the rhizosphere, so its important the the PH of the soil not be too acidic to begin with.
I've never grown Fava myself in containers, only in the ground, it sounds like an interesting experiment.

[lakelady]

I have the aquadulce I got from Seeds from Italy, all ready to go except for the innoculant which I need to buy. I think they grow about 3' also. Seems like you are supposed to plant them as soon as possible when the ground softens so get them in pretty quickly.

Do you really NEED the innoculant? I've heard people say there was no difference with or without it for their beans (not favas).

Sample Seed Shop has them and Victory also has a few varieties, and both ship fast.

[Jeannine Anne]

I have planted with and without and frankly have never seen any difference. I do usually start them in three inch pots then put out the plants but this year I have just planted them direct. Aqudulce is a good one and will fall plant in mild areas.

Good luck, if I can help in anyway I will, keep intouch as they grow, you may need to pinch out the tops later on, etc

XX Jeannine

[z_willus_d]

Originally Posted by RayR

Naysen, get some combination bean/pea innoculant for those Tainers if you are going to experiment with Fava. Fava does best in a slightly acidic PH, 6.5-7.0 would be OK. From what I've read, Fava roots exude a load of low PH organic acids around the rhizosphere, so its important the the PH of the soil not be too acidic to begin with.
I've never grown Fava myself in containers, only in the ground, it sounds like an interesting experiment.

Ray, I somehow missed your post. I believe the soil is already high 5's to low 6's in the pH range. If I understood your post, you're warning that Fava roots will actually release acids that will slowly acidify my soil further, in which case I'd best increase the pH before planting. That sound about right? If so, I'll mix in lime before planting. Can Fava beans handle warm spring/summer weather, or is this a fall spring only type crop?

Thanks,
Naysen

[RayR]

Here Naysen, I found a link to an article that illustrates what effect Fava has on the soil. Of course this shows how Fava can be used interplanted with corn in alkaline soils to improve nutrient uptake in the corn plants, but you can see how acid the exudes are from Fava roots. The experts say Fava yields best in slightly acidic soil, near neutral, which works fine up here since our native soils are typically PH 6.5-7.3 and they buffer extra acidity pretty well. That's not to say Fava won't grow in more acid soils, but I suspect that the yield of beans would much less.

Fava is pretty much like peas, it likes cool to moderate temperatures, once it gets into those sweltering hot days in the 80's and up, it wants to go to seed and die.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by RayR

Here Naysen, I found a link to an article that illustrates what effect Fava has on the soil. Of course this shows how Fava can be used interplanted with corn in alkaline soils to improve nutrient uptake in the corn plants, but you can see how acid the exudes are from Fava roots. The experts say Fava yields best in slightly acidic soil, near neutral, which works fine up here since our native soils are typically PH 6.5-7.3 and they buffer extra acidity pretty well. That's not to say Fava won't grow in more acid soils, but I suspect that the yield of beans would much less.

Fava is pretty much like peas, it likes cool to moderate temperatures, once it gets into those sweltering hot days in the 80's and up, it wants to go to seed and die.

I keep meaning to plant favas as a cover crop in the fall and havent gotten to it. This year I'm making it a priority, as I have more beds and don't need all my beds for a winter garden. This is very interesting about the pH effects, since I'm always fighting a high pH.

[z_willus_d]

Ray, thanks for passing along that link. I had never seen that chart depicting the effects of soil pH on nutrient availability. It's curious that based solely on the elements shown in the chart, a pH of 5 would be optimal for elements, save Fe, Zn, and Mo, but we target closers to 6.5 in tomato gardening, which seems to only optimize for Mo. I assume there are other reasons for maintaining a higher than 5 pH than uptake availability of the elements.

Do you believe I can get a reasonable harvest here in Sacramento, CA if I were to plant Fava seeds by start of April? It could get quite hot (well above 80F) in late June into July, 2-3 months down the road. Is that enough time to get a crop out of the beans?

Thanks again.
-naysen

[Jeannine Anne]

There are early and main crop varieties. I generally plant two or three lots , but you can plant monthly. I start in February and plant up till May. Use the hardy early ones first then switch to the maincrops.You will have beans through the summer.

They will take heat, but they will also grow in the cool of Spring, this causes some confusion as folks think they HAVE to be grown in the cool and thery actually don't.

XX Jeannine

[z_willus_d]

Thanks Jeanine. I find myself flipping back and forth on growing Fava. Maybe I will grow it after all. I've purchased some inoculant from Gurney's, now I just need to get the seeds here fast.
-naysen

[Jeannine Anne]

Juat a bit of advice, eat them when they are young otherwise they tend to get tough, shelled of course, and if you eat them very very young you can eat them shell and all . I think that is an aquired taste so try it but don't condemn the beans if you don't like them

Pich out the tops if the black flkies take up residence but wash the tops thoroughly and eat them.

Being English I could not imagine a garden without broadies.

I am growing some very old heirloom ones this year along with my usuals.

Go, go for it, they are a very easy crop. Don't let it get too compicated by reading too much.

In the UK they get bunged in the ground in February and that is basically it. I said earlier I usually start in 3 inch pots but that is only to make my rows more accurate..no gaps.

XX Jeannine

[RayR]

Yes they are easy to grow, I don't have the space to grow more than one patch of them a year, so I'm particular as to getting the best yield I can. Last year was a struggle, the spring was very cold and very very wet. The plants were stressed and the black aphids came.
Up here, I start them in the first week of April, March is typically too wet to work the soil or the ground is still frozen, but this year I might start earlier if the weather stays mild.

Jeannine, have you ever eaten the greens? I've been around Fava my whole life and never eaten the greens.