Transplanting Fava beans?

Does anyone know how Fava beans take transplanting? Does it set them back like squash or do they get over it well like tomatoes? Does anyone have enough experience to know whether growing them within an inch of each other makes a difference in yield and vigor?

Now that mine are 6 inches tall, I realize I've planted them WAY too close. I don't have many plants, so I really don't want to just snip off some of them near the ground. The soil they are in is very loose. I think I can dig them and wash the soil off the roots to separate them without breaking very many.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. :-)

Took me a few minutes to equate Fava Beans to Broad Beans LOL.

Yes they transplant OK but they do break easily. They don't like being too close or too much root restriction. I grew them in individual pots last year and they didn't crop well at all.

What variety are you growing?

Thanks, Baa! They're Broad Windsor. I stll haven't transplanted them, but will now with great care not to break them. I'll put them along the pea fence about a foot apart per the package directions. Any other tips?

I grew them about 4 yrs ago...8 inches apart in the row and made a double row with the plants 2 feet apart. They did extremely well. I was concerned about them being blown over by the winds so by planting them in double rows like that I could easily drive a stake at the end of each row and run a string around plants to support them. It wouldn't hurt to hill them up a bit as they grow too.
By the way, also that year I found out the tips of the plants were good for eating also. Some places "tip" them to get rid of the aphids that they are well known for attracting. The aphids tend to cluster at the tops, so just go down rows and pick the tips (and aphids) off...wash them off and eat them either raw or lightly steamed.

My pleasure!

I've not come across Broad Windsor itself but the Windsor types are later maturing than the longpods. Traditionally we grow them at about 8-10 inches apart so 1 ft will be ample space for them to spread.

Here's the PDB entry for them:
http://plantsdatabase.com/go/2438.html

Tips:

Water well once the flowers and pods start to form.

Nip out the top 2-3 inches once the podding begins to get them to mature a little earlier.

Blackfly aphids are a major pest, nipping the top out helps abate them a little. We tend to sow the first crop of Broad Beans quite early as they are less likely to smother a more mature plant.

Discard any beans that have a bean scar that is anything other than white or green.

Harvest at either 2-3 inches long to cook the pod whole and/or when the bean shape starts to show through the pod for shelling. They go tough if they are left too long. Pods which have some blackening on them may still have OK beans inside but check just in case.

They taste great with a dish of bacon! I prefer the smaller beans but some like them when they get larger.

Basic stuff really and probably one of the easiest crops to grow. I'd love to hear how you get on with them.