It is not too late to get peanut “seed” into the garden. Depending upon the type and variety, peanuts can take 120 days to harvest, but by planting them now the gardener will reap a fun crop to harvest in the fall.
Peanuts are a warm-season crop often thought of as a nut, but they are a root crop planted from seed.
Most of us know peanuts from a can, where they are easily spooned out nice and clean, or we crack shells, a little more time consuming to reach but still satisfying.
Peanuts can be sowed in the shells, or remove the shell while keeping the thin, pinkish, papery skin intact. The National Peanut Board suggests planting seeds 2 to 3 inches deep and 1 to 2 inches apart in rows; this spacing facilitates mechanical harvesting. For home gardens plant at the same depth but place seed 6 to 8 inches apart. Plant into well-tilled, well-draining, amended soil in full sun. Water well.
Seeds sprout and seedlings emerge about 10 days after planting. Shoots bear green, oval-shaped leaves. Plants reach a height of about 18 inches tall.
At about 40 days of age flowers appear. Peanut plants flower above ground, but fruits form underground.
This is when the peanut growth habit gets interesting: plants extend “pegs” into the soil. Pegs develop from the ovary of the yellow flowers that are on the lower part of plants. Flowers self-pollinate and as the ovary swells the petals fall off. The swollen ovary becomes a “peg,” a stem, which enlarges and grows away and downward from the base of the plant. The fruiting peg penetrates the soil; the tip of the peg becomes the newly formed peanut embryo.
At this stage the developing seed turns sideways to the surface of the soil and develops into a pod with seeds inside the pod. Pods mature in place. One plant may peg as many as 40 pods.
Plants mature and are ready for harvest 100 to 140 days after planting depending upon the type and variety. When soil is moist but not wet dig up the entire plant by gently forking under the plants. Shake off soil and lay plants with peanuts up and leaves down. Allow plants to dry and separate pods from stems.
They are now ready for snacking! A great autumn activity.
Some information from nationalpeanutboard.org.
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
