Last Updated on April 3, 2024 by Real Men Sow

The Best Broad Beans to Sow (Review) 2021

Best Broad Beans to Sow in Spring

Ever tried growing broad beans before? To grow broad beans, you are going to need to get the full sun of the spring on the soil – meaning that you’re going to need to prepare your broad bean seeds once the winter’s over and done with, and once the flowers start popping up again.

Sowing broad bean seeds is only half of the battle for some gardeners. You need to find plenty of space to grow your bean crop, and not only that, you need to look into the variety of pods and broad bean types which are available for you to buy right now. Before you get set on any of your spring sowing, make sure that you know which varieties of broad beans are going to work ideally for you!

For this buying guide, we’ve taken a look into the best broad bean seeds available on the market right now. Whether you have already grown a bean flower or two already, or are new to getting your allotment flush with varieties of broad beans, we’ve gone to the effort of analysing the best broad bean varieties to sow in spring to grow the plants you’re looking for. Whether to germinate within your garden or amongst the plants at your allotment, we’re sure the seeds for these pods and bean plants will produce spectacular harvests for you to enjoy.

In This Review

Masterpiece Green Best ‘All-Rounder’ Bean – Broad Bean

If you’re a complete novice when it comes to broad beans, then you’re going to do well to find a fantastic, all-round plant. Sowing broad beans in this particular variety, once the warmer season rolls around, should give you a delicious vegetable crop at a rate of around seven beans to a pod.

These broad beans are easy to sow and plant in double rows, though you’ll need to make sure that you place the seed apart from each other to give the pods enough room to grow. Premier Seeds Direct has produced a fantastic bean variety here in the form of plant seeds which should be hardy enough to weather the soil temperature at the start of the year.

Perfect for the garden as well as for allotments, providing you keep your broad bean growing areas as free from weeds as possible, there are no reasons why you won’t get to harvest some delicious broad bean plants from these scatters. These are great to use in most, if not all soil conditions and regardless of soil temperature.

Features

Broad bean seeds per packet: 80-90
Dimensions: 14.8 x 10.2 x 1cm
Weight: 80g

Meter Bean Best ‘Eye-Catcher’ Bean

This superb selection of bean seed come all the way from Portugal, and when cultivated properly, should grow a wide area of stunning broad bean plant life. If you like your bean crop to have a bit of variety, and want your plants to look the part while growing, then you can hardly go wrong with this particular broad bean variety.

These bean seed varieties not only produce tasty beans for you to harvest once having sown in spring, but will also really fill your garden out with plants. When you sow broad beans, you’d expect to get a fair number of vegetables per packet of seed – and here, you can expect your plants to offer 50 to 55 germinating from each packet. It’s fantastic value.

Features

Seeds per packet: 50
Dimensions: 17.5 x 12 x 0.8cm
Weight: 20g

The Sutton Best ‘Easy to Grow’ Bean

The Sutton broad beans tend to be amongst some of the most popular varieties out there. This delicious crop of broad beans really will appeal to the novice gardener, whether or not your main focus is on flowers or other plants!

This is a dwarf variety of broad bean, meaning that while small, you’ll get more than a plant or two from your seed sowing. These are perfect to sow in spring, but you might also find it worthwhile trying to grow plants fro autumn sowing, too! You’ll get around five to six beans per pod, which is perfect, too, if you’re unsure if you really want to try broad beans and their plants!

Features

Seeds per packet: 16
Dimensions: N/A
Weight: N/A

Bolly Bulbs® Aquadulce Claudia Autumn or Spring Sowing

If you’re looking for broad bean varieties which withstand more than the average – in terms of weather and general hardiness – then Aquadulce Claudia will be perfect for your spring sowing schedule. Tasty and simple to grow across various seasons, this vegetable also needs only very slight support, meaning a loose cane system for these plants and similar varieties will be all you need to keep them growing strong.

Features

Seeds per packet: 35
Dimensions: N/A
Weight: N/A

Broad Bean Pink – Karmazyn – Spring Sowing Premier Seeds Direct

Gardeners may well have come across these striking broad beans before, but they are still interesting looking! Ideal for sowing across the spring months in double rows, growing these bean packets to fruition – flowers or vegetables – is a fine art. However, this particular pack of seed pods we’ve hunted down for you is fantastic value, with an amazing plant yield for the price. It’s not every day you get green pods with pink seeds popping out!

Features

Seeds per packet: 55
Dimensions: N/A
Weight: N/A

Grano VIOLETTO – Winter Sowing Premier Seeds Direct

This variety of broad bean is one of the top crop choices if you want to plant across a garden or allotments area during the winter. The broad bean may be an icon of spring and summer, but this particular variety is an icon of the autumn and winter crop, too! These bean plants provide truly delicious crops which you can sow and plant in double rows.

Features

Seeds per packet: 55
Dimensions: N/A
Weight: N/A

Why Grow Broad Beans?

Whether or not you’ve already tasted broad beans, they are some of the most varied and rewarding crops to bring to fruition. You can sow broad beans and grow broad beans which produce crimson flowered plants, produce pink beans, and there are even some which are great for autumn sowing. Broad beans are a hardy vegetable choice, though you’re going to need to know – just like you normally might with peas and other pod vegetables – when to harvest them.
However, this shouldn’t take you too long to learn. You can grow broad beans in a variety of spots and places, such as in raised beds and double rows. You’ll find that there should be plenty of advice not only at local garden centres, but online if you search for it. Sources such as the RHS, for example, will offer up plenty of detail on how to get the most of your various broad bean varieties, and how to keep even the most interesting of plants well fed.

Are Broad Beans Easy to Grow?

The RHS states that growing broad bean plants, pods and flowers is pretty easy. However, in our collective opinion, that all really comes down to how green-fingered you are!

Generally, you should be growing your broad beans across the autumn heading into the summer, though this may actually vary depending on the pods you choose to grow, and the quality of the soil your flowers receive. Autumn sowing should normally produce a good yield heading towards the summer the year following.

In fact, you can grow broad beans to produce immense varieties of pods in fairly deep soil across the summer. As always, you’re going to need to keep your ear to the ground – literally – for anything likely to spoil your crop of pods over time, too.

The area in which you plant your beans (broad or otherwise) will impact on how well they grow. Choose to plant broad beans somewhere with a lack of manure, or which is overrun with weeds, and it’s hardly worth your time or effort. Make sure to drain out your site before you search for weeds, and then prepare to plant broad beans with a stake or two for plants if you need to.

There’s nothing to say you won’t find growing broad bean pods easy in the long run, but do always make sure to check out a few guides and videos online before you get going. This way, you can prepare yourself for sowing beans and harvesting them without any kind of disappointment.

What Should You Keep Aware of When Growing Broad Beans?

There are, sadly, always going to be things which affect crops such as broad beans from month to month. As a keen gardener, you’re going to need to make sure that your broad bean plants are kept healthy from season to season!

One of the biggest issues you should be aware of is chocolate spot. Chocolate spot might sound tasty, but it’s actually a pretty nasty fungal disease which attacks the broad bean plant regularly. Keep a close eye on any types of disease or weevil attraction, too, over the months. There are things you can do to protect your plant life and flowers without having to resort to using any potentially damaging chemicals, too.

Believe it or not, while the broad bean is an icon of the UK growing calendar, this big name in beans is always likely to fall prey to bad weather. In the UK, that’s never a good thing. Therefore, be sure to cover over your plants when it comes to the colder months.

Also, keep a look out for various pests! Beans broad and otherwise – peas, too – can fall prey to all varieties of bugs and vegetation snatchers. With broad beans, you’re going to need to keep your eye out for blackfly in the air, and even mice on the ground!

However, providing you are smart about growing broad beans, and tend to them as carefully as you sow and cultivate the beans you can be proud of, there are no reasons why you won’t have a tasty crop to come away with by the end of the summer.

Conclusion

We hope this guide on how to sow broad beans and which varieties are likely to be tastiest for you has helped. Beans, broad and otherwise, are really simple to grow and yield, though you will need to keep an eye out for everything that mother nature has to throw at you. This covers winged bugs, crafty ground critters, and even nasty diseases and rot.

Growing beans can be a tasty endeavor once you’re really into it. These are vegetables which come in a wide variety of looks and colors, meaning even if the crimson flowered or pink shelled varieties really don’t appeal to you, there are going to be plenty of other beans and crops which will help to facilitate your need.

If you’re just getting started with sowing and growing in general, you’re in a great place to be. Take a look across our site and clue up on which tools you’ll need to start cultivating your own little crops in your own garden space. Take a look at our buying guides, and find yourself a little inspiration in the months to come.

Growing your own food is great fun, and actually really empowering. Why not start with broad beans – it’s a simple place to start, and what’s more, you’ll be able to yield a stack of tasty treats from season to season, too.