Secrets of planting and growing peanuts in the garden
Since peanuts are thermophilic and have high temperature requirements, they can be grown in garden beds in regions with a warm climate. For fans of delicious beans, you can plant a few bushes in pots and keep them on the windowsill, but today, let's talk about how to plant peanuts outdoors. It will not cause much trouble, but you still need to know some secrets.
Soil preparation
It is better to prepare a plot for peanuts in the fall, choosing the brightest place in the garden. The beds where legumes grew are not suitable for this, since with peanuts, as a representative of the same family, they have common diseases. But potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbage are the best predecessors for peanuts.
Under the autumn deep digging, organic matter (humus or compost) should be applied to the planned planting site. In the spring, the soil needs to be shallowly loosened again with the parallel introduction of nitrophoska (50 g per 1 sq. M. Plot).
Sour soil needs to be limed, because peanuts do not like this.
Seed preparation
Planting peanuts can be purchased at the store and can be either whole or husked beans. The main thing is that they are raw, since fried nuts, of course, will not sprout. When choosing a variety, it is better to give preference to zoned species that are best suited for a particular region. In general, some of the best varieties of peanuts that grow well in temperate climates include:
- Valencia 433;
- Stepnyak;
- Klinskaya.
Many gardeners are interested in the question of whether it is necessary to germinate seeds. It is very difficult to answer it unequivocally, it depends on the specific area and its climatic conditions. In regions where spring comes late, and there are often recurrent frosts, it is better to plant dry beans, otherwise the quickly hatching sprouts will freeze. But for an area where stable warm weather has been established since the end of May, peanuts can be germinated before planting. This is done at the end of April, having previously processed the beans with potassium permanganate. Sprouted peanuts should be seasoned by keeping them cool for several days.
Planting and care rules
You can plant peanuts in rows, leaving a distance of up to 20 cm between the holes, and at least 60 cm between the rows.A checkerboard pattern is also suitable, where there will be 50 cm between the bushes.At least 3 seeds should be laid out in one hole.
You can start planting peanuts in the garden no earlier than mid-May, when the air temperature reaches stable values of 20 degrees Celsius. Usually gardeners are guided by the flowering of acacia.
Planting care includes:
- weeding;
- top dressing of seedlings grown up to 10 cm (superphosphate, ammonium nitrate, potassium salt);
- abundant watering during flowering;
- hilling after the ovaries are bent to the ground and the harvest begins to ripen.
TO picking peanuts you can start at the end of summer, when the leaves begin to turn red on the bushes.