Their large seeds are easy to plant and they germinate in a matter of days. Place one seed per pot. Any dwarf cultivar works well. Fava beans tend to have less foliage than petunias so more fava beans may need to be used. Suggestions vary from 3 to 12 plants per 1000 square feet.
Check beans daily for symptoms of thrips feeding and virus infection.
Yellow to light green ringspots may be seen on the leaves or stems. Do not confuse viral symptoms with black spots on the stipules that normally occur. Fava beans may also occasionally develop fungal leaf spots with concentric rings. If you see infection, remove plants from the greenhouse. Any thrips larvae feeding upon an infected fava bean plant can acquire the virus.