Fava Bean is an annual grown for its pods, ready to pick about 85 days after sowing. It's hardy across USDA zones 2 through 11. Its flowers are a moderate draw for honeybees and native bees, even though the pods are the prize. A nitrogen-fixer, it draws nitrogen from the air and feeds it back to the soil — turn it under or leave the roots in place, and the next planting inherits a richer bed.
Fava Bean — the short answer
Fava Bean: grown in zones 2–11, full sun, pH 4.5–8.6, about 85 days to maturity.
- USDA zones
- 2–11
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Soil pH
- 4.5–8.6
- FAO ECOCROP
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Growable Ground Plant Database
- Days to Maturity
- 85 days
- OSU-PNW; UMass-Veg
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
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What Fava Bean is
Fava Bean grows as an annual and reaches around four feet at maturity.
How to grow Fava Bean
Fava Bean grows in USDA zones 2 through 11 and is ready to harvest about 85 days after planting. Fava Bean does best in full sun — at least 6 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 4.5 to 8.6, on well-drained ground. It needs around 1,300 growing degree days to mature and a growing season of at least 100 frost-free days, which is why climate matters as much as soil.
USDA Zones
2-11
USDA PHZM 2023
Soil pH
4.5 - 8.6
FAO ECOCROP
Sun
Full Sun
Growable Ground plant catalog
Drainage
well (dry spells)
Growable Ground plant catalog
Minimum Growing Temperature
41°F
Below this it stops growing rather than dies — a pace limit, not a survival limit.
FAO ECOCROP
Days to Maturity
85 days
Fava bean / broad bean; cool-season; frost-tolerant young plants.
OSU-PNW; UMass-Veg
GDD Required
1300+
Growing degree-days of accumulated warmth it needs to mature — humid summers reach this faster than cool coastal ones.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Mature Height
4 ft
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost-Free Days
100+
The frost-free stretch it needs start to finish — short-season areas may need an indoor head start.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Start the season right
Plant fava bean in full sun with at least 6 hours of direct sun, once the soil has warmed and frost risk has passed.
Match the soil
Fava Bean prefers pH 4.5 to 8.6 (FAO ECOCROP). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band. It fixes its own nitrogen, so skip the high-nitrogen feed and instead dust the seed with a matching rhizobium inoculant at sowing.
Water steadily
Keep the root zone evenly moist through establishment. A 2–3 inch mulch layer holds moisture without waterlogging.
Harvest at maturity
Fava Bean is ready about 85 days after sowing (OSU-PNW; UMass-Veg). Pick the pods young and tender, before the seeds inside fully swell.
Where Fava Bean thrives
On hardiness alone, fava bean grows across most of the country — its range (USDA zones 2 through 11) is unusually wide. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 2–11 spans average winter lows from -50°F to 50°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers 48 outright and splits 3 more down the middle — and which side of that line your land sits on changes the answer.
Zones 2–11·Where Fava Bean growsOpen map →
Continental US shown — Alaska and US Pacific territories sit outside the federal map's polygon dataset.
Where Fava Bean stands, state by state
Fava Bean is rated for zones 2–11 — a cold floor USDA puts at -50 to -40°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 48 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 3 more, and 0 sit outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
Fully inside zones 2–11
48 states
3 of 48 shown
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around Fava Bean
Growing guides for fava bean
In rotation planning, fava bean counts as a Legume — beds recover best when legume crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Related plants in vegetable
Good to know
Good news for pet owners — fava bean isn't known to be toxic to dogs or cats. (Source: ASPCA.)
Fava Bean offers moderate value to bees and other pollinators. (Source: Pollinator Partnership.)
Before you harvest fava bean, know your soil
Anything you grow to eat takes up what's in the ground it grows in, so it's worth knowing what's documented near you before you plant fava bean for food. Our free screen reads 9 federal source types across roughly 1.8M indexed sites and shows which sit near your address and which way they drain. It's a screening estimate from public records and proximity — not a soil test — so a nearby record means a soil test is worth it, not that your soil is unsafe.
Your land is one point inside Fava Bean's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if Fava Bean will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your exact soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether fava bean actually takes — we score it against the real conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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How we know this about Fava Bean
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database•USDA PHZM•ASPCA
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow Fava Bean in my zone?
Fava Bean grows in USDA hardiness zones 2 through 11 (USDA PHZM 2023). Zone is one factor — soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
How long does Fava Bean take to grow?
Fava Bean is ready to harvest about 85 days after planting (OSU-PNW; UMass-Veg). Your local frost dates and soil temperature move that window earlier or later.
When should you plant Fava Bean?
Most growers plant fava bean after the last spring frost, once the soil has warmed, leaving enough of the season for its 100-day frost-free need. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does Fava Bean need?
Fava Bean needs full sun — a spot that catches at least 6 hours of direct summer sun a day. In more shade it still grows, but usually gives a smaller, later crop. The catch is that a yard rarely gets even light everywhere — a fence, the house, or one tall tree can quietly take those hours. A Growable Ground report reads the real sun-hours across your land, canopy and buildings included, so you can pick the brightest bed before you plant.
What soil does Fava Bean need?
Fava Bean prefers soil pH 4.5 to 8.6, on well-drained ground (FAO ECOCROP). Your report scores your parcel's actual soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does Fava Bean attract pollinators?
Yes — fava bean's flowers are a solid nectar source for honeybees and native bees. (Source: Pollinator Partnership.)
Is Fava Bean safe for pets?
Fava Bean is not known to be toxic to dogs or cats based on available data. Always supervise pets around new plantings. (Source: ASPCA.)