Broad bean
Vicia faba
Also called Fava bean
Garden plant · Herbs, veg & fruitPinch the growing tip out once the first pods set. Blackfly go for the tip and nowhere else.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Easy
- Water
- Every 3 daysWater the ground — water at the base, in the morning, not over the leaves.
- Light
- Full sun
- Feed
- Every 21 days
- Humidity
- Average
- Hardiness
- Hardy — an average winter RHS H4, to -10°C
- Size
- 0.75 m tall · 0.3 m across
- Lifecycle
- Annual
- Origin
- The Near East
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsNothing recorded against it
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-07-31. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- The soft growing tip crowded with matt-black aphids just as the lowest pods begin to swell — that is the moment to pinch the top out, not later.Blackfly · pest
- Scattered reddish-brown freckles on the leaves and stems that stay separate at first, worst on a crowded autumn-sown row in still damp weather.Broad bean chocolate spot · disease
- Neat U-shaped notches bitten around the edges of the seedling leaves, as if cut with a hole punch.Pea and bean weevil · pest