Tips to grow Peanuts

The peanut is not a nut, it is actually a vegetable belonging to the legume family, which includes peas and beans.The steps to be followed while growing your peanut are:

• Choosing
• Planting
• Growing
• Taking Care
• Harvesting
• Drying
• Consuming

 

 

 

Choosing the right peanut seeds:

Although all peanut seeds look the same, they all grow a different plant. When you just want to grow yourself a little peanut plant as an experiment you can go to your local grocery store and buy raw green peanuts. Remember that your peanuts need to be raw (un-roasted) otherwise nothing will happen and you are basically wasting your time.

Planting Peanuts:

Peanuts need full sun. If you have heavy soil, ensure good drainage by working in enough organic matter to make it loose and friable. 

Peanut seeds come in their shells and can be planted hulled or unhulled. If you do shell them, don’t remove the thin, pinkish brown seed coverings, or the seed won’t germinate.

Growing:

Most peanuts flower about six to eight weeks after planting them. The flowers are produced near the ground on bunch plants and along the runners of vining types. While the plants flower above ground, however, the pods develop below. As the flowers fade, the stem begins bending downward, carrying the pods to the ground. Since peanuts bloom over a period of several weeks (up to three months), the pods mature at various intervals. Each pod yields two to three peanuts.

Taking Care:

• Make sure to water your peanut plant on a regular basis, the plants require about one inch of water every week. Do not pour an entire bucket of water on your plant on Monday but distribute the amount of water over the week so that the peanut plant gets about the same amount of water every day. When your peanut plant has a reached a height of 6 inches you need to loosen up the soil around the peanut plant a bit, this way you are helping the peanut plant with its mission to get the pegs into the ground.
• Do NOT use fertilizers with significant amounts of nitrogen in it. Peanut plants are capable of producing their own nitrogen, if you add more the plant will not produce a good amount of peanuts.

Harvesting:

• Harvesting Peanuts Most peanuts are ready to harvest anywhere from 120-150 days after planting, give or take. Harvesting peanuts usually takes place in late summer/early fall when foliage turns yellow. As peanuts mature, their hull color changes—from white or yellow to dark brown or black. You can test the maturity of peanuts by scraping the middle of the pods with a sharp knife. 
• A dark brown to black hull means they’re ready to harvest. Carefully dig up plants and shake off excess soil. Then dry the peanuts by hanging them upside down in a warm, dry area for about two to four weeks. Once dry, place them in mesh bags and store them in a well-ventilated area until ready for roasting. Boiled peanuts are best just after digging and prior to drying.

Drying:

Take the peanut plant inside and hang it upside down at a dry and warm location for about a month until the leaves of the plant become crumbly. You can leave the peanuts on the plant. After about a month you are ready to do what you want with your peanuts.

Consuming:

You can eat them in various ways. It is possible to eat them raw, roast them or even bake them.