Peanuts in the country: how to grow a peanut.

Cultivated peanuts (lat.Arachis hypogaea), or underground peanuts, or peanut- a demanded earth crop, which belongs to the genus Peanuts of the legume family. From a botanical point of view, the peanut is not a nut, but a legume. Homeland of the plant South America, where it already had value in the days when the mainland was not yet discovered by Columbus. Peanuts came to Europe thanks to the Spanish conquistadors, and later the Portuguese brought this crop to Africa, where the nutritional properties of peanuts and their ability to grow on scarce soils were highly appreciated. And after a while, slave traders brought peanuts to North America. In the 1830s, Portuguese sailors brought peanuts to Macau and India, and Spanish sailors to the Philippines. Then the culture came to China and appeared for local population salvation from hunger. In the early 19th century, industrial peanut cultivation began in South Carolina, and this crop fed both armies during the North-South War. Since peanuts were considered the food of the poor, farmers did not seek to cultivate this crop, but in 1903 the American agrochemist George Washington Carver invented over 300 peanut products - drinks, cosmetics, medicines, dyes, printing ink. laundry soap and even a means for exterminating insects ... And since in those years the weevil massively destroyed cotton crops, Carver managed to persuade farmers to alternate the cultivation of soil-depleting cotton with the cultivation of peanuts. As a result, peanuts became the main cash crop of the southern states, and in Dothan, Alabama, grateful Americans erected a monument to Carver.

Today, peanuts in Ukraine, Transcaucasia and other regions of the former USSR with a warm climate are grown on an industrial scale.

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Planting and caring for peanuts (in brief)

Landing: sowing seeds in open ground - in mid-May.
Lighting: bright light.
The soil: moist, light, containing humus, calcium and magnesium, sandy loam or black earth neutral reaction.
Watering: after the top layer of soil has dried. During flowering - 1-2 times a week in the morning, after flowering watering is moderate, but evening spraying of peanuts with warm water is necessary. In drought, sprinkling or furrow irrigation in the aisles is desirable. In a season with normal rainfall, 4-5 waterings will be required.
Top dressing: full mineral fertilizer: 1st - when seedlings reach a height of 10 cm; 2nd - at the beginning of fruiting.
Reproduction: seed.
Pests: thrips, aphids, caterpillars and wireworms.
Diseases: amazed powdery mildew, phyllostictosis, alternaria, fusarium wilting and gray rot.

Peanut plant - description

Cultivated peanut is an annual plant up to 70 cm high with highly branched shoots. Its root is also branched, tap-shaped; the stems are erect, pubescent or glabrous, slightly faceted, with lateral branches recumbent or directed upward. The leaves of peanuts are pubescent, alternate, 3 to 11 cm long, paired, with a grooved petiole and two pairs of pointed elliptical leaves. Peanuts bloom with whitish or yellow-red flowers, collected in 4-7 pieces in short axillary inflorescences. Despite the fact that each peanut flower blooms for only one day, and withers by the evening, the flowering of the whole plant lasts from late June or early July until late autumn. Peanut fruits are oval, swollen two to four-seeded beans with a length of one and a half to six centimeters with a cobweb pattern. Ripening, they lean to the ground, plunge into it and ripen there. Peanut seeds, oblong, the size of a bean, are covered with dark red, light pink, cream or greyish yellow skin. Peanuts ripen in September-October.

Planting peanuts outdoors

How peanuts grow

Growing peanuts is carried out in open areas with intense lighting without the slightest hint of shadow from buildings or other plants. Peanuts grow at temperatures above 20 ºC - if the temperature drops literally by two degrees, plant growth stops. The easiest way to carry out the cultivation of peanuts in Ukraine and in other warm regions is by sowing its seeds in the ground at a time when the acacia is blooming. Peanuts in Russia, especially in areas with a cool climate, are best grown seedling method.

When to plant peanuts in the ground

Since peanuts can only be planted in warm soil, they do this after sowing. melons and gourds when the ground warms up to 12-14 ºC, which means, not earlier than mid-May. Please note that returnable spring frosts detrimental to peanuts. You can use peanuts purchased from a store or market as seed, but not fried, candied or salted.

Then you can plant peanuts

When growing peanuts, it is very important to follow the crop rotation. It grows best after crops such as cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes and potatoes, especially if these crops were introduced organic fertilizers... But after legumes (beans, peas, beans, lentils), peanuts are not grown, because the plant can develop root rot.

Soil for peanuts

Soil for peanuts should be moist, light and neutral, with a high content of humus, magnesium and calcium - black soil or sandy loam. The culture does not tolerate saline soils, and acidic soils need to be limed before planting peanuts.

A site for planting peanuts is prepared in advance: for the autumn digging of soil to a depth of 25-30 cm, 1 to 3 kg of humus is introduced for each m² of the area. In the spring, the soil is dug up again, but not so deeply, and 50 g of Nitrofoski is added to the soil for each m² of the plot.

How to plant peanuts

How to plant peanuts? Planting peanuts is carried out in holes 10 cm deep, staggered at a distance of 50 cm from one another. The gap between the rows is left within 25-30 cm.You can sow peanuts in the garden in a square-nesting way according to the scheme 60x60 or 70x70 cm.Peanuts can be planted in a wide-row method, observing the row spacing of 60-70 cm and the distance between plants in a row 15- 20 cm. 3 large seeds are placed in each hole, since the small ones may not sprout. After planting the seeds, the garden bed is watered abundantly with a hose through a shower head under low pressure so as not to erode the soil.

How to grow peanuts

How to grow peanuts in the garden? Caring for peanuts consists in watering the beds during a drought, weeding, loosening the soil and feeding. Young, low seedlings must be protected from weeds. Weeding can be combined with loosening the soil, and vice versa. At the end of flowering, 1.5-2 months after sowing, the growing ovaries will begin to sink to the ground and germinate into the soil, where the peanuts will ripen. As soon as the ovaries begin to bend to the ground, the bushes are covered with moist, loose soil, like potatoes, so that the receptacle can quickly reach the nutrient medium. Instead of hilling, you can sprinkle a layer of mulch from humus, sawdust, sand or peat at least 5 cm thick on the garden bed.On average, 30-50 beans ripen under each bush, each of which contains from 1 to 7 seeds.

Watering peanuts

Ground peanuts love moist but not wet soil. Water it when it dries. upper layer soil. During flowering, it is watered abundantly, once or twice a week in the morning; after flowering, it does not need watering as much as spraying in evening time in a day or two. If it rains during the ripening period, cover the bed with plastic. And in a drought it is best to sprinkle peanuts, but if this is not possible, then water the peanuts along the furrows in the aisles. In total, 4-5 waterings are carried out per season.

Peanut feeding

For the first time, peanuts are fed with a solution of 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 45 g of potassium salt and 70 g of superphosphate in 10 liters of water, when the seedlings reach 10 cm in height. The second time is at the beginning of fruiting, although this top dressing is optional.

Peanuts at home

Choose strong, healthy peanut seeds and soak them overnight in a bowl of water and a drop of Epin. Small white sprouts should appear in the morning. Plant the seeds in loose soil in a wide bowl. Peanuts germinate very quickly, and immediately after flowering, in place of the flowers, hypophores are formed, which, bending, go into the ground, where the peanut beans develop. Did you know that peanuts develop underground? They contain crops of peanuts away from drafts, on the southern windowsill, but at noon the plant needs shading. Water the peanuts regularly, however, be careful not to allow water to stagnate in the roots. Spray the peanuts on hot days to prevent spider mites from settling on them. Two and a half or three months after sprouting, the peanut leaves begin to turn red, and this is a sign for you that the peanuts are ripe in the soil.

Pests and diseases of peanuts

Peanuts can become infected with powdery mildew, phyllostictosis, Alternaria blight, Fusarium wilt, and gray mold.

Powdery mildew- the first signs of this disease look like single spots of powdery plaque on both sides of the leaves, which grow with the course of the disease and cover the entire leaf, from which it turns yellow and dries. The disease affects the stems and even the embryos. With a strong infection in the fight against powdery mildew, they resort to processing peanuts with systemic fungicides - Bravo, Quadris, Ridomil, Switch, Skor, Topaz or Horus.

Phylostictosis, or leaf spot, not such a harmful disease, but it is necessary to fight it. The onset of the disease can be recognized by small brown specks growing up to 6 mm in diameter. Gradually, their middle fades, the fabric in it dies off, and the border becomes brown-violet. Phyllostictosis progresses during the period high humidity air. Effective in the fight against the disease of treatment of plants with fungicides wide range actions.

Alternaria or black spot of leaves, manifests itself in years when, at the end of the growing season, humid and warm weather sets in for a long time. Black spots up to 15 cm in diameter form at the edges of the leaves, which grow and merge with the development of the disease, which makes the edges of the leaves die off. On the spots, you can see a dense black coating of the fungus. In order to prevent the development of the disease, it is necessary to observe the agricultural technology of the species, which serves to increase the plant's resistance to the pathogen.

Fusarium wilting manifests itself in the form of root rot, which causes the cessation of growth and development of the plant, yellowing of its ground parts and rapid death. The danger of the disease is that it may subside for a while, but during flowering and laying of fruits it develops with renewed vigor, which leads to the death of plants even before harvesting. Compliance with agricultural techniques and timely harvesting will help prevent fusarium wilting.

Gray rot usually occurs at the end of peanut flowering and is manifested by rusty-brown spots, which pass from the leaves along the petioles to the stems, which is why their upper part withers and dies. Fruits do not form on the affected plants, and those that have already formed are deformed. The active development of the disease is observed at the end of summer in humid and warm weather. It is possible to prevent the appearance of gray rot only by growing peanuts in a high agricultural background.

Sometimes peanuts can also suffer from dwarfism, dry rot, ramulariasis and cercospora.

Of the pests, peanuts can be annoyed by thrips, aphids and caterpillars, which can be eliminated by sprinkling the garden with a mixture of wood ash and tobacco dust, and peanuts are treated with insectoacaricides from thrips. Worst of all, if the wireworms, the larvae of the click beetle living in the ground, begin to eat the peanuts. Their destructive activity is not even hindered by the fact that peanuts are in their shells - they easily gnaw it and feed on peanut seeds. To destroy wireworms, trap holes are dug in several places, in which pieces of beets, carrots or potatoes are placed. The traps are covered with boards, pieces of slate or metal, and after a while the larvae that have crawled to feed are opened and destroyed.

In order to minimize the risk of pests appearing on the garden bed, observe the crop rotation and agricultural technology of the species, promptly remove weeds from the site.

Cleaning and storage of peanuts

As soon as the peanut leaves turn yellow, scoop up a couple of beans, and if the seeds are easily husked from them, be ready to harvest. Usually, peanuts are harvested when the air temperature is consistently within 10 ºC. Do not delay harvesting until the cold weather, because after the soil freezes, the seeds acquire bitterness and become unsuitable for food. Wait for a fine sunny day and start cleaning. A pitchfork is used to dig up the fruit. After being removed from the ground, the beans are separated from the stems and dried for fresh air in the shadow. When the shells are dry, transfer the beans to cloth bags and store in a dry, well ventilated area and no more than 10 ºC.

Types and varieties of peanuts

There are more than 70 types of peanuts in the Legumes family. Several species are grown in South America, but only two species are cultivated outside this continent - cultivated peanuts and Pinto peanuts. Great amount cultivars of peanuts are conventionally divided into four groups:

Spanish group (Spanish varieties)

- These small peanuts are grown in South Africa and the southeast and southwest of the United States. The Spanish type of peanut is characterized by a higher oil content than other types of peanuts. Spanish peanuts have medium-sized kernels in a pink-brown shell, which are used mainly for the production of peanut butter, candied and salted nuts. The largest suppliers of Spanish peanuts are Texas and Oklahoma. The best varieties of Spanish type peanuts include Dixie Spanish, Spantex, Argentinean, Spanet, Natal ordinary, Star, Comet, Spenhoma, Florispan, Spankromm, Tamspan 90, O "Lin, Spenco, Wilco, White Kernel, Shafers Spanish and others.

Valencia Group

represents varieties for the most part with large kernels. These are tall plants, reaching a height of 125 cm, with three-seeded smooth fruits. The seeds are oval, in a bright red shell, for which they are often called red-skinned (redskin). This group is a Spanish subgroup.

Runner Group

- the varieties of this group are superior in taste to the varieties of the Spanish type, in addition, the Runner is better fried and gives more high yields... The kernels of the Runner varieties are large and oblong. They are used for the production of peanut butter and salted nuts for beer. The best varieties of the Runner group are Dixie Runner, Early Runner, Virginia Bunch 67, Bradford Runner, Egyptian Giant, North Carolina Runner 56-15, Georgia Green, Flavored Runner 458, Southeast Runner 56-15 and others.

Virginia group

- these selected, large peanuts are fried in shell and used for confectionery. The best varieties of the Virginia group are Shulamite, Hull, Wilson, Gregory, Virginia 98R, Perry, Virginia 92R, North Carolina 7, North Carolina 9 and others.

Peanut properties - harm and benefit

What are the benefits of peanuts? To understand the benefits of peanuts, you need to study its composition. Peanuts contain linoleic, pantothenic and folic acids, vegetable fats, glutenins, easily digestible proteins, starch, sugars, vitamins A, E, D, PP, B1 and B2, iron, macronutrients magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. Its fruit contains antioxidants, which makes peanuts, along with strawberries, pomegranate, blackberries and red wine, one of the most effective means prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Peanut proteins have an optimal ratio of amino acids, and this is the reason for their excellent assimilation by the human body. The fats contained in peanuts have a mild choleretic effect, which is useful for gastritis and stomach ulcers. Folic acid promotes cell renewal in the body, and a large amount of antioxidants protects cells from free radicals and serves as the prevention of vascular ischemia, heart disease, early aging, atherosclerosis and the formation of cancer cells.

Peanuts have a calming effect on people with increased excitability, helps to recuperate faster, improves memory, increases potency, enhances sexual desire, eliminates insomnia.

Due to their high protein content, peanuts increase the feeling of fullness, which is why nutritionists often use them as the basis of weight loss diets. What peanuts do not contain is cholesterol.

Peanuts - contraindications

Anyone, even the most useful product, if used in exorbitant quantities, it can be harmful, therefore, in the use of peanuts, one must observe the measure, especially for those who are overweight. The harm of peanuts can affect people prone to allergies, especially if they are consumed together with peanuts containing strong allergens.

Arthritis and arthrosis are also contraindications to the use of peanuts. We recommend that you monitor the quality of the product, as moldy or rancid peanuts can lead to food poisoning.

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Many of us love nuts, of course. You can eat them just like that, or you can fry, decorate pastries, add to desserts, muffins, cakes, or make various sweet snacks with them in the form of nut pastes or mixtures with dried fruits and honey.

Nuts in the country?

Now on sale you can find nuts that are completely different in taste and appearance, for example, almonds, walnuts, cashews, cedar, Brazilian, chestnut, hazelnuts, pecans and others. But traditionally the most accessible of them is peanuts or peanuts. And due to its unpretentiousness, it is also available for self-cultivation.

Few have tried, but even in the middle lane, a peanut can be easily grown in your summer cottage by sowing seeds in the spring immediately into the ground. The main condition for obtaining a good harvest here will be the presence of a warm sunny summer and the absence of prolonged torrential rains in September.

Preparing the land and sowing seeds

We harvest the seeds in the fall, extracting them from unpeeled peanuts in shells purchased on the market.

In the spring, around the last week of April (or on the May holidays), we allocate a free piece of land for planting peanuts, preferably away from trees that block the sunlight.

A plot occupied by a vegetable garden last year is perfect. We dig it up and we harrow very carefully, removing the remaining weeds.

We make parallel grooves about 5 cm deep in the ground at a distance of about 50 cm from each other.Place peanut grains in them, maintaining an interval of 20 cm between them.

We fill the grooves with earth and water the future plantation abundantly.

Growing features

The first shoots appear 2 - 2.5 weeks after planting, in the second half of May, which is about a week later than in and.

This happens, as a rule, always evenly, and soon the entire planted area is covered with young green plants.

During cultivation, you can add 2-3 times (June, July, August) mineral fertilizer, while the development of plants is more amicable and intensive.

In cloudy, cold and rainy weather, which this year stood out for two whole months (May and June), it would not hurt to also add heat under the roots, and the sun on the aboveground part. For peanuts, these are the main indicators of a good harvest.

In normal years, it is sufficient to water the plants twice a month, and in dry periods and during flowering - every week. Waterlogging of plants should not be allowed, especially during the period of fruit ripening. Weeding and loosening the soil around the bushes should be done every time after watering.

Flowering and fruit development

Around the middle of June, the grown peanut bushes bloom.

If planted too deeply, flowers may even appear from under the ground.

Peanut bloom lasts more than two weeks. By this time, most plants have formed several (4 or more) trunks, and the foliage acquires a rich bright green color. And by mid-July, the faded bushes reach a maximum height of 25-30 cm. After that, the bushes can be spud like a potato.

The culture of peanuts is interesting in that for the formation of ovaries, the plant releases arrows from the trunks that go underground, and it is in the ground at their tips that future peanut fruits are formed.

Fruits develop slowly, gradually increasing in size. That is why a long warm period is so important for their full ripening.

Harvesting

In our region, peanuts usually ripen by the end of September, which is why in years with a rainy beginning of autumn, a significant part of it can simply rot in the ground, not having time to fully ripen.

Since the fruits of peanuts develop and ripen underground, it is possible to detect the ripening of the fruits by digging a control bush (or, preferably, a few - around the perimeter of the site).

Also, the ripening of peanuts can be judged by outward appearance plants when the bushes "droop", dropping foliage.

But it is impossible to bring the bushes to a completely dry state (like potatoes), otherwise the harvest during harvesting may crumble in the ground or disappear from the same decay when waterlogged.

In years with late spring and cold summer, peanut fruits can only ripen in October, as a result of which the plants fall under frost. But the fruits themselves do not suffer at the same time, therefore in such years (if there are no prolonged heavy rains in the fall) it is worth postponing digging out the bushes.

Naturally, before the first frost.

After removing the bushes from the ground, both formed and still developing fruits can be observed.

Even small bushes have a well-developed root system and the harvest is visible.

We wash the plant roots in water. The earth comes off easily, and now you can see part of the result of our labor.

Among the one-, two- and three-legume fruits there are also very small balls: to The short cold summer allowed not everyone to develop. When collecting them, you can safely throw them away, since they are usually underdeveloped inside.

While in the rest of the shells, even the most "suspicious" have nuts inside. In skin color, they are usually light pink or barely starting to turn pink.

Drying fruits

After harvesting, the peanuts need a long (about a week) drying in a warm place - in the sun or on the floor at home, and even better - on a mesh base under a fan. Dried fruits will rattle when shaken. And only then can the peanut beans be removed from the shells. After drying, they take on their usual deep pink or hot pink color.

It is from your own harvest that you can select the best seeds for planting next year. And then it will already be possible to grow the strongest and most hardy plants, which in the summer on your site will turn into a real green peanut carpet.

And in the fall, they will certainly delight you with unusually tasty and healthy nuts.

Good luck with your experiments and a nutty mood!

Having once tasted peanuts, many farmers think about how to grow peanuts in the garden. Despite the fact that the birthplace of culture is South America, the climate middle lane in Ukraine is quite suitable for growing peanuts at home. Especially for this, such varieties were bred as: Valencia Ukrainian, Stepnyak, Krasnodar and others. It is enough to purchase the appropriate seed material and get acquainted with simple technology.

Peanut history

Peanuts are thermophilic crops, therefore they are widespread in subtropical latitudes. The homeland of the plant is South America. From there, peanuts were brought to the West Indies, and then spread to European countries.

The largest peanut plantations can be found in South America. There, nature created the most favorable conditions for the comfortable growth of this plant. Recently, however, gardeners are increasingly growing crops in temperate latitudes.

Peanuts belong to the legume family, but unlike other crops, their fruits form and grow underground. Annual plant forms a small bush with branched stems. Its leaves are paired, the flowers are small with a yellow color.

Peanuts are a valuable nutritious food. It contains sugar, carbohydrates, protein in large quantities, high-quality fats and vitamins and minerals necessary for the human body.

Recently, a study was conducted in the United States that showed that peanuts contain a large amount of antioxidants that prevent the development of heart and vascular diseases. The use of peanuts prevents the development of atherosclerosis, malignant tumors and delays the processes of premature aging. And also its fruits contain vitamins E, B and linoleic acid, which has an anti-sclerotic effect.

For peanuts, it is better to choose sunny places with fertile soil. Southern culture enriches the land and gives health to the owners of the site.

Planting peanuts outdoors

How peanuts grow

When to plant peanuts in the ground

Since peanuts can only be planted in warm soil, they do this after sowing melons, when the ground warms up to 12-14 ºC, which means, not earlier than mid-May. Keep in mind that return frosts in spring are bad for peanuts. You can use peanuts purchased from a store or market as seed, but not fried, candied or salted.

Articles about indoor and ornamental plants

Then you can plant peanuts

When growing peanuts, it is very important to follow the crop rotation. It grows best after crops such as cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes and potatoes, especially if organic fertilizers have been applied to these crops. But after legumes (beans, peas, beans, lentils), peanuts are not grown, because the plant can develop root rot.

Soil for peanuts

How to plant peanuts

How to plant peanuts? Planting peanuts is carried out in holes 10 cm deep, staggered at a distance of 50 cm from one another. The gap between the rows is left within 25-30 cm.You can sow peanuts in the garden in a square-nesting way according to the scheme 60x60 or 70x70 cm.Peanuts can be planted in a wide-row method, observing the row spacing of 60-70 cm and the distance between plants in a row 15- 20 cm. 3 large seeds are placed in each hole, since the small ones may not sprout. After planting the seeds, the garden bed is watered abundantly with a hose through a shower head under low pressure so as not to erode the soil.

Watering peanuts

We grow peanuts without irrigation at all, in central Ukraine there is enough moisture for good growth of this crop. Watering can increase yields when there is a lack of natural rainfall. In arid regions, watering can be done throughout the growing season, every 10 to 12 days (taking into account rainfall), and after flowering during the formation of fruits, watering can be increased. Keep the soil moist but not flooded with water. The best solution will drip irrigation, or using water heated in the sun. Watering is stopped a month before harvesting.

Conditions for growing peanuts

First of all, we note that warm soils are preferable for growing peanuts. The areas should be open, well-lit, and there should be no obstacles to ventilation. More specifically, on the soil: it can be both black soil and sandy loam soils. In addition, the soil should have a high content of magnesium, potassium, humus. If we are talking about acidic soils, then lime or chalk should be added to them. If salinity is characteristic of the soil, then measures should be taken to reduce salinity, for example, the introduction of phosphogypsum. As for the seeds themselves, they germinate at + 12-14 ° C. Optimum is + 25–30 ° C. When cold snaps come in September, seed formation stops. In the case of small frosts, it must be borne in mind that they are destructive. If in the fall frosts reach -3 ° C, the germination of seeds, if they are not ripe, is lost.

When growing peanuts in the country, you need to take into account that this is a crop that is demanding on soil moisture. This is especially true of the flowering period, as well as at the time of seed formation in the beans underground. At the same time, the water should not stagnate. If the soil is too wet in September, it will negatively affect the ripening of the crop. In order for the gynophores of peanuts to reach the soil and grow as quickly as possible, the plants need to be hilled. Gynophores are an organ in a plant that appears after pollination of a flower. It begins to grow downward, and a fertilized ovary is located at its end. Accordingly, if the gynofor does not go deep into the soil, it will simply die. If optimal conditions for the growth and development of peanuts will be disrupted, the plant becomes less resistant to diseases and this manifests itself in the form of spots on the leaves and root rot.

When to harvest peanuts

When the leaves of the plant turn yellow and the seeds are easily husked from the beans, it's time to harvest. But be careful, do not delay harvesting peanuts before the cold weather, because when frozen, the seeds lose their germination and gain bitterness, becoming unsuitable for food.

Harvesting takes place in two stages, first, the peanuts are dug to the surface, folded into rolls and allowed to dry, after which the beans are separated from the roots and sent for drying and storage. You can dry peanut beans at a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C with ventilation. It is better to store peanuts in beans at a low temperature of +8 ° C to +10 ° C, in a well-ventilated area, on shelves with a layer of no more than 10 cm or in rag bags.

As you can see, the cultivation of peanuts is not at all tricky and, with the proper desire, you can get good harvest it would seem exotic plant on its site in Ukraine. The main conditions for success: quality seeds and adherence to technology.

Peanut use

Despite the fact that you now know how to plant peanuts, do not hope that you can grow a multi-kilogram crop on a windowsill or balcony, but to an ordinary person and that amount is not required. Peanuts are very high in calories, they contain a lot of fiber. Consume it in large quantities nutritionists do not recommend. Found this nut wide application in cooking. It is used in the preparation of various sauces, meat dishes, and confectionery.

How to store peanuts?

If you have collected big harvest then you should take care of its storage. It must certainly remain in its skin. Place it in an airtight container and refrigerate. In this form, it can be stored for up to six months. You can leave the nut in a dry and dark place - it will be good for consumption within three months. But if you freeze it, then this period will increase to a year.

Deterioration of the ecological situation, climate change on earth requires increased efforts to organize a sufficient level of nutrition for the population anywhere in the world. New varieties of useful plants appear that are capable of producing crops in different climatic conditions. Together with them, questions arise, for example, how to grow peanuts or other interesting plant. Modern technologies in the field of food production allow you to create from them long-term, tasty food products. On their basis, a person implements the main idea of our time: a healthy lifestyle regime based on proper nutrition.

Nature has created for humanity big choice useful plants suitable for food. The past centuries have taught them how to use them correctly as healing agents, food products. Among the countless number of this kingdom, nuts occupy a separate place. They were found in ancient burials, taken with them on campaigns associated with difficult trials to restore strength. Used in rituals, hoping that they will bring happiness, wealth, health, good luck in everything. And, of course, everyone wanted to admire their tree, inhale the aroma of its foliage and flowers every day. Therefore the question about correct cultivation nuts, for example, has always been important, interesting.

The large list of nuts includes the beloved peanuts. We are so used to small grains hidden in neat bags on store shelves that sometimes it seems that it grows everywhere, always and it's easy to grow it. And although this representative of warm countries has long become the owner of large, small plantations of other climatic zones being the closest relative legumes we call it a peanut. He received this name because of the peculiarities of the formation of fruits that distinguish him from the familiar beans, peas, soybeans. On the ground part of the plant, a flower forms, which adorns it for only one day. The sacrament of fruit formation takes place underground, hidden from human eyes. Delicious fruits ripen in a mysterious silk-like cocoon. How to grow peanuts in the country, at home is well studied. The technology has been tested not only by professionals, but also by amateurs on small summer cottages even at home.

The benefits of peanuts

Many beneficial properties of peanuts have been known for a long time. Scientific studies that have revealed the chemical composition of peanuts have confirmed the effectiveness of its use in organizing proper human nutrition. Use as a prophylactic, supportive agent in the treatment of many diseases. Vegetable fats, proteins, well absorbed by the body, vitamins, minerals are collected in it in a harmonious complex. It improves memory, hearing, sleep, attention. Help with exhaustion, overexcitation nervous system... Prevent the appearance of some forms of cancer. A high value does not lead to weight gain due to the lack of cholesterol. Of course, you need to stick to the reasonable amounts recommended by your doctors. A high protein content may well reduce the amount of meat consumed. For small snacks, you can eat a peanut butter sandwich, some delicious nuts. The use of peanuts for the prevention of atherosclerosis, heart disease increases with heat treatment. Healing substances are found throughout the plant. Shells, stems, nuts serve not only as food products, but are used in pharmacology, cosmetology, and solving agricultural problems. It will seem even more useful if you learn how to grow peanuts at home, do it yourself, see all the stages of its development. Some care tips can be found below.

Growing peanuts

As planting material you can use fresh, store-bought seeds of regular nuts. The first but important step is to soak them in potassium permanganate. This is recommended at the end of April. They germinate in about 10 days. Get biweekly seedlings for small areas well in peat cups... Plants in them develop quickly, are not damaged by the bear, ripening dates come earlier. When soaking, the shell is not removed. Nuts are aged on a damp cloth until sprouts appear. Sprouted seeds are planted in prepared soil. It should be fertile, water-permeable, digging in the autumn. Excessive salt content, high acidity will have a bad effect on the formation of plants. The composition of the soil is improved by the introduction of chalk, lime, dolomite flour... A good effect is given by the introduction of phosphorus fertilizers, humus before spring planting peanuts. At the same time, as the fertilizer necessary for the plant, it is recommended to apply nitrophosphate at the rate of 70 g per one square meter area set aside for cultivation. Sowing in open ground is carried out from the end of May, if it is stable temperature regime soil, which is about 15 °. The site should be located in an open, sunny place with the possibility of effective ventilation. People's sign, which determines the time of planting peanuts, is the time of flowering viburnum. This coincides with the planting of melons and gourds. Usually, holes are made 10 cm deep. They are placed in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 35 cm from each other and three, four soaked seeds or one, two with a sprout are placed. The seedling method is essential for growing peanuts in northern areas. It can be planted with separate beans, whole cocoons, on the peel, which are settled by beneficial fungi and bacteria. The main thing is not to forget that their germination capacity is completely lost after two years of storage. A distance of 25 cm is left between the rows. When planning a place for growing peanuts, it is recommended to use the improvement of the soil structure due to the correct crop rotation. The best predecessors of peanuts are potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and cabbage. Tomatoes can be a useful companion for peanuts, for which such planting conditions are beneficial due to the possibility of obtaining nitrogen supplied to the bacteria developing in the nut tubers.

When the time comes for beautiful small seedlings to appear, you need to be careful. The interest of numerous flocks of birds in them is greatly increasing. Without protection, installed effigies, you can quickly lose a significant part of the crops. Peanuts are moisture-loving plants. In the initial periods of growth, it is watered at least once a week. The soil should be moist without stagnant water. The best option is the organization of the drip irrigation method. During flowering, the appearance of ovaries, the plant requires the maximum amount of water. This contributes to the appearance of gynophores, special processes on the formed bush instead of flowers. These are not just the ovaries found in any species of the legume family. Gynophores grow up for a very short time next to peanut stalks. They independently go to the ground, hiding in it. Only then do real ovaries of peanuts form on them. At this moment, it is necessary to huddle the bush to a height of 10 cm. The process is repeated every 12 days three times per season. During this time, a powerful bush grows, which does not need to be watered, but only loosened, weeded. Mineral fertilizers are applied three times: when the first leaves appear, flowering, the formation of ovaries.

The germination rate of peanut seeds depends on many factors related not only to storage conditions. It is enough not to remove them in time in the fall, allowing for the first frosts, how can you not count on seedlings next year. Although the taste will remain the same. When buying fresh peanuts in a regular store, we have no information about the variety, the quality of the seeds. Therefore, the only correct solution would be to purchase seeds of the desired variety in specialized stores. For peanuts, this is also important because now many varieties of a thermophilic plant have been obtained, adapted for growing in climatic conditions that are not ideal for it. All cultivars are usually grouped into four large groups: Virginia, Valencia, Runner, Spanish. Species Red, White Tennessee are marked separately. A sign of such a division is taste, the content of various aromatic elements, the size of the nut, the value of resistance to various diseases. For cultivation on small areas In central Russia, local varieties can be purchased. For example. Stepnyak, Klinsky, Adyg, Acorn, Bayan. For large plantings, varieties are often used:

Runner. Wild species of this peanut are found in various states of the southeastern United States. Back in 1940, having appreciated the excellent taste, the ability to effectively roast, and high yields of plants, breeders received a large number of varieties, including them in this group. All of them are distinguished by high productivity, excellent taste. Among them are Early Runner, Bradford Runner, Southeastern Runner 56-15, AT-108 ', other varieties. They are most often chosen by manufacturers of various peanut products.
Spanish group.
Small fruits of plant varieties of this group are most often grown in the countries of South Africa, USA. They are inferior in many respects to the new varieties of the first group. But their great advantage, which is still popular today, is the high percentage of oil. There are many popular varieties in the group. These are Dixie Spanish, Improved Spanish 2B, OLin ',' Tamspan 90, other varieties.
Virginia Big sizes The flavors make this group popular for making a variety of peanut products. Namely, they are sold in salted form, confectionery. The crop is formed on shoots, bundles.
Valencia Group. The sizes of fruits and bushes in the varieties of this group are the largest. In manufacturing, it has a privileged position for making cooked peanut products. The crop has almost no small nuts.

Choose one or two varieties. After two years, the seeds of a plant are obtained, well adapted for their climatic conditions... On an industrial scale, the transition to the use of a new variety is always associated with a change in the planting technique, the introduction of modified types of seeders, harvesting machines, threshers, and other agricultural equipment.

To determine when the crop is ready for harvest, you need to carefully look at the bush. The leaves should turn yellow. Cleaning is done on a dry, not rainy day. Having dug a bush with a pitchfork, it is gently shaken off the ground. Later harvest is associated with the loss of part of the crop. Because some of the nuts break off from the stems on their own, remaining deep in the ground. The nuts are dried along with the above-ground stalks in the sun for two weeks. The quality of drying can be determined by the sound that appears when the beans are shaken.

Peanuts are affected by the same diseases, die from the same pests as all legumes. First of all, these are caterpillars, aphids, thrips. Root rot, spotting. Damage to stems, viral diseases. To combat them, there are chemicals, which are easy to buy and process in accordance with the instructions. Peanuts are not a difficult plant to care for. It has long begun to be grown not only on large plantations, but also on ordinary private farms, summer residents and even at home.

Growing in the country

The basic agrotechnical techniques remain the same. Simply, one must take into account that for beds with walnuts, you need to find a sunny, ventilated place, and not under mature trees. Watering is required. Usually there is an opportunity for this on the territory of summer cottages. Planting is recommended to be done in seedlings. This will speed up the ripening time of the peanut.

At home

Peanut bushes will decorate the windowsill, the greenhouse shelf. How to grow peanuts at home will be advised by expert advice. Planting is done in small cups, and then planted in a permanent place. At home, it is important to choose the right pot size so that there is room for the drooping stems and free placement under a layer of earth. For this, it is recommended to purchase wide pots. Hilling in them is done by pouring fresh soil in the form of a mound in the center of the pot. The pot is placed on a sunny windowsill, light, warm balcony, avoiding drafts. Having shown care, ingenuity, you can treat your family to homemade peanuts, admiring it decorative leaves all summer.

Wherever this wonderful plant grows, it attracts attention with its beauty, healing properties, creating a real revolution in the system of healthy human nutrition.

See tips for growing peanuts

How to grow peanuts in the garden? Just like on the windowsill. Yes, yes, this legume grows remarkably up to the middle lane. And very few people to the south did not try to plant it on their site. At the same time, peanuts do not require unearthly care. He is very unpretentious. True, it requires some growing conditions. But they are all quite feasible by any person and tool at hand.

Choosing seeds

More precisely, beans. Biologically speaking, peanuts are not nuts at all. Well, let's not go into the jungle of botany and the intricacies of the origin of the species. It is now more important for us to choose the right seeds for planting. They can be bought at any store or market. The main conditions are very simple:

The beans must be moist. That is, fried, salted, glazed or sweet will not work.
The seeds should have their native red coat. The purified ones simply will not ascend. Ideally, it's best to buy inshell peanuts and carefully shell them at home.
The beans must be whole. Sometimes they are sold in halves or even crushed. Naturally, it is useless to wait for seedlings from such seeds.

The best way to get the seeds is from the market. There you can touch them, examine them from all sides, choose the most beautiful ones. Anything can be in a store bag. Especially if it's opaque.

Advice. Try to get large peanuts. Then your harvest will be rich with large beans.

Choosing a site

Anyhow, where to stick peanuts will not work. We do not have South America for any land to fit. It is advisable to choose a place where the sun will illuminate the landing from morning to evening. This will give the bush the maximum amount of light. This is exactly what you need.

Also, it would be nice if this site was closed from strong winds... No, the gusts will not break the landings, they are too low. But even a light summer breeze can cool them. And peanuts like to live with temperature range from +24 to + 27 ° С. When lowered, it stops developing. It does not die, but it stops growing. Therefore, it is better to provide the most comfortable conditions.

By the way, young seedlings of peanuts will have to be covered with something from birds. These feathered hunters are happy to pull out sprouts to feast on the mother bean. And they rip out absolutely all the growth, every single one. Therefore, when choosing a place for planting, consider how you will protect them. There are several options:

Pull on a special bird net. Cherry and cherry trees are still closed to her.
Place a scarecrow or stakes with thundering shiny objects.
Cover the seedlings with a thin non-woven material.
Ask your cat or a neighbor's cat to guard young shoots.

The latter method is highly unreliable. These felines strive to sneak away about their business, or in pursuit of a bird they themselves may thoroughly crush the plantings of peanuts.

Advice. Choose the first method. It is the most efficient and reliable one.

Cooking the ground

In principle, no special conditions are required for peanuts. The looseness of the soil is much more important to him. After all, it is under the ground that the formation and growth of beans takes place. Therefore, it is recommended to add a decent amount of clean sand to the beds in the fall. This will give the soil the necessary looseness.

At the same time, the plant must take strength somewhere for full growth and filling of peanuts. Fresh manure is categorically contraindicated for him. Greasy compost will only cause rapid growth of green mass, and flowering will be poor and miserable.

But we need flowers! From them, nuts are then born. And what trace elements are responsible for good and profuse flowering? That's right, phosphorus and potassium. Means, in early spring, as soon as the snow melts and the top layer of the soil dries up a little, we add any mineral fertilizer to the garden bed. We look at the composition on the package. We apply the dosage according to the manufacturer's recommendation. We focus on legumes.

After that, we dig the earth well, but we do not break the smallest lumps. Peanuts like a little rough ground, so you can bring soil from the forest and scatter it in your garden beds. Naturally, we pull out all the weeds in autumn and spring. They will prevent faded ovaries from rooting. But in principle, weeding can be done regularly during the subsequent hilling.

Before planting the peanuts, it is advisable to burrow through the ground again. This will allow the weed seeds to awaken. You will have time to weed the area again so that nothing interferes with the quiet growth of the bushes.

Advice. After spring preparation, cover the soil with a black non-woven fabric. So it will warm up faster.

Preparing peanuts for planting

Very often people complain about the germination of beans. Sometimes, out of a dozen, only one comes up, a maximum of three things. To warn yourself against such a nuisance, peanuts need to be soaked before planting. Naturally, the shell is removed. This will make it easier for the beans to germinate.

In order to awaken the vitality in the nuts, they are soaked for 4 hours in warm water... You can even add any biostimulant or adaptogen to the liquid:

zircon
aloe juice

The amount of the drug can be found on the package. Just do not exceed the dosage. The seeds will still take as much as they need. So why spend extra?

After soaking, the remaining liquid is drained, but the peanuts themselves do not need to be washed. Now the beans need to be laid out in a single layer on a damp cotton cloth or paper towel. To do this, take a pallet or a wide flat plate (dish). Cover the soaked peanuts on top with another layer of cloth or loose paper. Then the entire structure is slightly moistened and placed in a warm place. Darkness is optional.

After about 23-25 hours, the halves of the beans should open slightly, and a small sprout will appear from the inside. Those seeds that have not woken up within 3 days are hardly viable. They can be safely thrown away or fed to livestock (poultry). Just before that, rinse them to remove the biostimulant from the surface.

Once the beans have opened, they can be planted almost immediately in the garden.

Advice. Soak peanuts at least 2 days prior to planting to ensure that beans that are not viable are discarded.

Planting peanuts in the garden

Some people recommend planting the beans in holes. It is inconvenient and time consuming. Do you plant beans in furrows? And the peas too. And why are peanuts worse? Draw the grooves already, simplify the task for yourself. Leave the distance between them at least 30 cm. So later it will be easier to spud the plantings.

Sprinkle the grooves well with clean water. After all, at first, the sprouts need moisture. And by the time of planting, it is practically no longer in the ground. By the way, peanuts are planted in open ground around mid-late May. By this time, there is no longer a threat of recurrent frosts. And their peanuts cannot stand.

After watering, carefully lay out the soaked beans at a distance of 16-17 cm from each other. Then sprinkle with a layer of earth 6.5-8 cm. We do not mulch the beds. Now it remains to wait for the shoots.

Advice. If the seedlings did not appear in 18 days, then it means that you did something wrong.

It is not at all difficult to care for seedlings. Periodic loosening of the soil, regular weeding and medium watering about once a week. We are waiting for flowering. It's hard to miss. Yellow-orange flower butterflies are clearly visible from afar.

The peanut flower only lives for one day. In the morning it opens up, by the evening it already withers. But there are a lot of them on the plant. It's funny to read that a peanut flower needs to be pollinated in these 12-15 hours. Some articles say so. This plant is completely self-pollinated and does well without outside help.

For the flowering period, care is a little more complicated. But don't let that scare you. The only difficulty is that you will have to water the peanuts more often. Approximately every 3-4 days. And feed it once with any phosphorus-potassium fertilizer.

Now it's time for hilling. Indeed, after flowering, the ovary sinks to the soil and buries itself in it. It is there that the formation of nuts occurs. Therefore, we need to help the plant a little. All hilling is reduced to three stages:

With the onset of flowering, mounds are scooped up around the stems about 5 cm in height.
After a week, the mounds are increased to a height of 13-14 cm.
After the end of flowering, the last hilling is carried out. The height of the mounds is 22-25 cm.

This procedure allows you to get an earlier harvest. At the same time, it increases by almost 30%. After flowering, watering is again reduced to 1 time in 7-9 days. By mid-August, watering is gradually reduced, and by the end of August, it is reduced to nothing. Now all that remains is to wait for the harvest. True, during a cold snap below + 20 ° C (this sometimes happens), it is recommended to cover the landings with a film or dense non-woven material. Still, peanuts love warmth.

The signal for the time of harvesting is the massive yellowing of leaves and shoots. Take your time to pull out the bushes with your hands. This will leave most of the crop in the soil. Use the most common garden forks. Just pry the bush, it comes out of the soil easily.

Of course, now it is tempting to peel the peanuts in order to dry them as soon as possible. But in the stems and shoots there is still a large amount of nutrients... Therefore, without breaking off the nuts, we carefully shake off the bushes from the ground. Then we hang them down with stems in a warm, dry room. It could be a barn or an attic. And only after the tops are completely dry, you can pick off the beans. During this time, all useful trace elements will be transferred to them from the stems.

Well, now you have your own peanuts. You can leave some for seeds for the next year, and the rest can be safely eaten.

In our country, there are no diseases or pests that love peanuts. The only thing is that rot on the shoots can appear in a cool, humid summer. Therefore, if it rains, it is advisable to cover the planting with a transparent film. Peanuts do not like excessive waterlogging of the soil.
Do not plant multiple seeds in one hole. The peanut bush is always lush and spreading. He needs a certain amount of room to grow. And if all three seeds sprout, then instead of good development and correct growth will only be a constant struggle for a place in the sun and food. In this case, the harvest will be meager, with small, tasteless beans.
Usually peanuts are fully ripe by the end of September. But, it is better to dig out the bushes a little earlier if in your area at this time there are the first frosts. The fact is that the nuts begin to taste very bitter after frost. And bitterness is almost impossible to get rid of.

How to grow peanuts in the garden? It turns out to be very simple. Follow all the recommendations and you will be able to feast on nuts of your own production. And no exotic! Having tried to grow it once, you will prescribe this wonderful plant in your beds for a long time.