When to Plant Broad Beans in New Zealand: Sowing, Growing and Harvest

Updated October 2026

A mainstay of the winter garden. In Auckland direct sow from autumn into early winter and let them stand through the cool months. Pinch out the growing tips once pods form to discourage aphids and push energy into the beans. Fixes nitrogen in the soil.

🌱 Plant profile: Broad Beans, with sowing times for your region, companion plants and common pests.

When to Plant Broad Beans in Your Region

Timing is everything in New Zealand, where the warm north and the cooler south are weeks apart.

Broad beans are sown as seed, mostly in autumn and early winter. These are the sowing months for each of our nine New Zealand regions, straight from our planting data. Each region links to its vegetable planting calendar, and the Broad Beans plant page has spacing, companions and care notes for your region.

Broad beans are a hardy, cool-season crop, so most of the country sows them from March to July and lets them stand through the cool months. The colder south has two options. Canterbury can keep sowing through to September, adding a late winter sowing for a later crop. Otago and Southland sow from April to June to overwinter, or from August to October for a summer crop. In Central Otago the spring sowings from August are the safer bet, and autumn-sown plants need to be small and sturdy going into winter. The Canterbury August planting calendar shows what else goes in alongside a spring sowing.

Best broad beans varieties for NZ

• Aquadulce, Early hardy broad bean for autumn sowing, long well-filled pods. (Egmont Seeds, Kings Seeds, Mitre 10)
• Coles Dwarf Prolific, Compact self-supporting bush, good for windy or small gardens. (Egmont Seeds, Kings Seeds)
• Crimson Flowered, Heritage variety with deep-red flowers, tender beans, ornamental. (Kings Seeds, Egmont Seeds)

How to grow broad beans

• Space plants about 20cm apart.
• Sow seed around 5cm deep.
• Position: full sun.
• Ready to harvest in roughly 90 days.
• Seeds germinate in about 10 days.

How to Sow Broad Bean Seeds

Broad beans are grown from seed, and our growing notes recommend sowing direct where the plants will grow rather than raising seedlings. Our plant data rates them a beginner crop.

1. Pick a sunny spot. Choose a bed in full sun with firm, free-draining soil. Broad beans fix their own nitrogen, so skip the nitrogen fertiliser.
2. Sow direct. Push the seeds in about 5 cm deep and 20 cm apart, in rows or a block so the plants can be fenced with stakes and string later.
3. Water the seed in. Seedlings come up in about 10 days. Our plant data gives a germination range of 8 to 18°C.
4. Support taller types. Put the stakes and string in as the plants grow, because laden plants flop in wind.

Supporting Broad Beans and Pinching Out the Tips

Broad beans grow 60 to 120 cm tall, according to our plant data, and tall plants laden with pods flop over in the wind. Put a stake at each end of the row and run string along both sides as the plants grow, so the stems lean on the string. Coles Dwarf Prolific is a compact, self-supporting variety for windy or small gardens.

Once the pods have set, pinch out the soft growing tip of each plant. This directs energy into the pods, and because black aphids cluster on the soft tips, it also deters them.

Watering and Feeding Broad Beans

Go light on nitrogen, because broad beans fix their own, and overfeeding with nitrogen does not help them set pods. A feed with potassium supports the pods. Keep moisture steady once the flowers and pods appear, because steady moisture at flowering gives good pod set. If flowers open but no pods form early in the season, the cause is usually cold or too few pollinators, and the plants normally set as the weather warms.

Growing Broad Beans in Pots

Broad beans grow well in containers. Our plant data calls for a pot at least 30 cm deep, filled with a free-draining mix and set in full sun. Compact Coles Dwarf Prolific is the best choice for pots, because it stays short and supports itself, while tall varieties need stakes even in a container. Sow at the same 5 cm depth, keep the spacing at about 20 cm, and water more often than you would in the garden, especially once the plants flower. Our container vegetable gardening guide covers pots and mixes.

How Long Broad Beans Take, and When to Pick Them

Our plant data puts broad beans at roughly 90 days from sowing to harvest. Autumn sowings stand through the cool months before cropping, and in the colder south the spring sowings from August to October give a summer crop.

How you pick depends on how you want to eat them. For shelling, pick when the pods are plump and you can see the beans showing through. For whole young pods, pick while they are still flat and about finger length. Twist or snap the pods off the stem. Expect a few handfuls of pods from each plant.

Pods keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. For longer storage, shell the beans and freeze them, and they keep for months. They are good double-peeled and tossed through pasta, mashed into a dip with lemon and garlic, or added whole to risotto and stews.

Companion planting

Grow broad beans near: Potato, Corn, Lettuce, Celery.

Keep them away from onions, garlic and fennel.

Pests and problems

Watch for: Black aphid, Chocolate spot, Rust. See our NZ pest and disease guide for organic control.

When it goes wrong

The most common ways broad beans trips people up, and what to change next time:

Black tips crawling with insects

Blackfly on the soft tips. Pinch out the growing tips once the plants are flowering well.

Plants flop over

Tall and wind-rocked. Stake a string fence around the row to hold them up.

Flowers but no pods

Cold or few pollinators early on. They usually set as it warms, so do not overfeed with nitrogen.