Peanuts
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Peanuts
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow peanuts in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- How many peanut plants to grow
- Growing conditions for peanuts
- When to plant peanuts
- How to plant peanuts
- Watering, fertilizing, and pruning peanuts
- Companion plantings for peanuts
- How to harvest, store, and use peanuts
Growing Peanuts
Peanuts are warm-season, root-nut-bearing vegetables, a legume in the peas and beans family. Bunching or spreading tropical bushes or vines, to 20 in. (50 cm) tall, with potato-like, alternating leaves, bear yellow, pealike flowers followed by a stalklike peg that grows downward into the soil, forming 2–6 seeded pods, 1–2 in. (25–50 mm) beneath the soil.
Virginia and Spanish peanuts grow clusters of nuts underground. Spanish peanuts bear 2 nuts per pod; Virginia cultivars, 2–6 nuts.
Peanut Plant and Care Guide
How Much to Plant
Allow 10–12 plants per household member, yielding 2–3 lbs. (0.75–1.1 kg) of nuts.
How to Plant
Seed germinates in 5–10 days. Average Climates: Sow nuts indoors at time of last expected frost and harden seedlings 7–10 days before transplanting. Mild-Winter Climates: Sow nuts in full sun in spring when soil warms to 65–85°F (18–29°C). Sow shelled nuts 1-1/2-in. (38 mm) deep, 6–8 in. (15–20 cm) apart, in rows 3 ft. (90 cm) apart. Plant successions every 3 weeks. Fertile yellow flowers appear in 20–45 days. Always plant seed stock; peanuts processed for eating seldom germinate.
Best Conditions for Growth
65–90°F (18–32°C). Requires sustained temperatures over 85°F (29°C) to set flowers, develop, and ripen peanuts.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy loam. Fertility: Rich. 5.8–6.2 pH. Prepare soil at least 2 ft. (60 cm) deep. Rotate plantings with cole-family vegetables in alternating years.
Proper Care
Challenging. Keep evenly moist; allow soil surface to dry between waterings and avoid wetting foliage. Withhold water when plants flower. Cultivate when plants flower, working sand mixed with gypsum into the soil surface at least 8 in. (20 cm) deep.
Pairing Recommendations
Beets, bush peas, and potatoes.
Maturity, Picking and Gathering
110–150 days. Harvest when leaves yellow and wither. Loosen soil with a garden fork and gently pull entire plants. Shake off clinging soil, hang plants to cure in a protected, dry, warm spot for 2–3 weeks, then remove the nuts and brush them clean of clinging soil.
How to Store and Preserve
Raw in shells, in porous fabric bags stored in a dry, dark spot, for up to 3 months; roasted, in an airtight container or frozen, 1 year. Make peanut butter by blending whole nuts in a household blender or food processor. Children love the unusual growing habits of peanuts.