Peanuts.....

[quark1]

Hi All

I know there have been a number of threads re the above - sadly I do not have the patience to trawl through all available to find where I have contributed last on the subject. I went back several months before the mods tell me off!

Sown on 8th Apr 2010 - today I unbundled my peanut bucket which had 8-10 raw shop bought peanuts growing in it.

It flowered during the summer and I did my best to help pollination with a small brush.

I thought all was lost but noticed several 'spikes' drilling down below soil level where the flowers had once been.

Today I emptied said bucket to reveal a fair handful of fresh full-sized peanuts grown at home. OK not a great crop - but have any of you actually tasted a 'fresh' - what could almost be described as a 'green' (although white) peanut - rather than those rather stale specimens we are fooled into liking.?

They were sweet - yes almost pea-like - and very succulent.

A quite different beast to the raw or even salted/roasted varieties we've come to expect in little bags.

Lesson for next year - grow 'em again - but leave heaps more space for more peanuts to enter buckets/ground to produce edible treats.

Should mention that this was grown in a sun-lounge which suffers/enjoys tremendous heat when the summer sun and heat upon us!

Will be definitely grown on bigger scale next year.

Forget the swanky expensive peanut 'kits' - just grab a pack of traditional monkey nuts and make sure you see the word 'RAW' somewhere on the pack and you're away for a fraction of the cost. They're particularly available now as Halloween approaches.

Great growing experiment and I'd imagine if this 'old' kid can enjoy, the little kids will love this one! Nice yellow flowered plant anyway during its growing season.

[Capsid]

Well, I never knew the nuts grew like that! I suppose it's obvious since they are otherwise known as ground nuts.

[Two_Sheds]

I'm so pleased you've had success: I shall now be sowing some with my school's Garden Club

I bet the fresh "nuts" (they're actually peas) are nice and moist like fresh sunflower seeds?

[womble]

Now you're an experienced peanut farmer, how much space would you give each plant?
And what depth pot etc.

[shirlthegirl43]

I know it is a stooooopid question, but do you plant the whole thing in it's 'shell'?

[Two_Sheds]

No just the nut Shirl, like you would a pea or bean seed

[quark1]

Dear Womble

In my new capacity as 'Peanut Farmer' lol ! - I intend to reduce the number of individual peanuts sown to just 2-3 per flower bucket next year. There were many spikes with nodules (immature peanut pods) among the roots which were very teeny and probably had no chance of getting bigger due to space. The lucky ones to strike down first were the winners. I may even try a couple of buckets with a single for comparison.

It was a bit of an experiment having established the peanuts were viable over the winter.

I may invest in around 5-6 buckets worth next year and test the yield.

As you will see from my dates - this took arond 5 months to achieve and I may well start some off earlier than April - say Feb/Mar and keep in sunlounge.

I should also say I'm not the first here to manage to grow them and get new peanuts, and I seem to recall that it was more for the fun of the growing experience than size of crop. I don't think I'll have to buy a peanut press to extract my own oil just yet!

I shall also see about trying to get a few pics of the project so that those interested can view (and admire!).

[womble]

Peanuts are a bit like peas, grown commercially, aren't they? I can't believe how they manage to grow that many and sell them so cheaply.

One - three per flower bucket, do they need that much depth? How many eatable peanuts did you get per flower bucket then? I hope you counted them before you ate them

[quark1]

The flower bucket I used was the shorter of the 2 standard sizes that most supermarkets etc have on their flower stands. This year 8inch depth - next year 10inch depth.

The root systems in the smaller bucket were very dense - so I'm hoping that more space with less plants will have a better outcome. They also get quite thirsty - but I had way too many plants per bucket. Can't remember if I put Chicken poo pellets in bottom - but a small sprinkling would probably help. Planted 'seed' at about 1inch depth - perhaps double this would be better? Great thing is that the peanut swells to almost double its original size overnight and you can even get germination beginning within 48 hours! Like I said great for kids who tend to like near-immediate results - which is why I guess runner beans are often grown on classroom windowsills.

Further note on yield - with this over dense lot - each plant which did produce a full-sized peanut only delivered an heir and a spare.

[womble]

You got 2 peanuts per plant?

Not exactly courgettes, are they. LOL