Whether as a healthy snack, as peanut butter or in muesli: peanuts have become an integral part of the menu for many. Have you ever thought about where the easy-to-crack nuts grow and whether it might be possible to grow them in the garden?

Peanuts, as their name suggests, grow in the ground

Peanuts are actually not nuts at all

From a botanical point of view, peanuts are not nuts at all, but legumes, like peas and beans. The English name Peanut, which literally means something like "pea nut", suggests this.

However, peanuts actually thrive in soil. However, the nutlets do not form on the taproot of the mother plant, as is the case with potatoes, for example. As soon as the bright yellow flowers of the peanut plant fade, the base of the carpel bulges out and forms a carpophore one to eight inches long. This curves downwards and burrows into the top layer of soil.

Here the seeds continue to develop in a woody shell, well protected from predators. The mother plant dies after a year and the young peanut plant takes over its good location with this trick of nature.

Grow peanuts in your own garden

If it is warm enough in the region where you live, you can also grow peanuts here in Germany.

cultivation in the house

For this you need fresh peanuts, which you can get in seed shops. It continues as follows:

  • Shell the nut and put it in a pot with moist cactus soil.
  • Cover with a transparent film.
  • Place in a warm, very bright place.
  • Air daily to prevent mold from forming.
  • Wet the soil regularly with a sprayer.
  • Once the seedlings have reached a size of ten centimetres, place them outside for a few hours on warm days.

Continue cultivating peanuts outdoors

In the garden, peanuts also need a well-protected, warm and full sun spot. A loose, humus-rich soil is ideal.

  • The small peanut plants are placed in the bed as soon as the temperature during the day reaches an average of 20 degrees.
  • This is usually the case in our latitudes from mid-May or early June.
  • The planting distance must not be less than 25 centimetres.
  • Chop the soil around the plants regularly so that the carpophores can penetrate well.
  • When no more flowers form, lightly pile up.

Water and fertilize

  • Wet only the top inches of soil at a time, occasionally allowing the substrate to dry completely.
  • Peanuts are quite frugal. Fertilize in June rather sparingly with an organic fertilizer.

The harvest

The peanut takes about six months from sowing to harvest. If the mother plant starts to wither and turns yellow, the time has come: Now use a digging fork to get the whole plant out of the ground, shake off the soil and hang the peanut plant up to dry for about two weeks. The seeds can then be easily detached and dried again for two weeks.

tips

The nuts are not very edible when fresh and quickly go moldy. Therefore, quickly roast the peanuts in a pan over medium heat for about twenty minutes.

Category:

Vegetable garden