It’s raining outside and you are too bored as you cannot go out. You start hating the rain for ruining your evening. Then your mum brings you a plate of deep fried peanuts and a cup of hot tea. Suddenly you are light and start loving the rain, watching it and munching the nuts. Yes, peanuts are the best snacks to lighten up the mood and it can be prepared without any hassles. Either alone or with your friends, munching on peanuts is a treat that, perhaps, has no equal. And if you are very health conscious and think that it’s a sin to munch on these then consider this, peanuts are a rich source of nutrients providing over thirty nutrients. They are fat-free, other than the oil in which you are frying, and are a rich source of protein. Whatever fats the peanuts contain are the unsaturated fats which are essential for your body. No doubt peanuts, in various forms, are considered as an absolute requirement for a healthy heart. So, munch yourself towards good health with a healthy dose of peanuts. Read the article below to learn some tips on growing peanuts.
Tips On Growing Peanuts
Soil
- Peanuts grow best in sandy soil with a good amount of compost and manure. The soil should be such that the water gets drained easily. You can achieve this by planting the seeds in soil mounds.
Seeding
- Dig the garden patch at least six inches deep and keep a space of four inches between the peanuts. Plant raw peanuts, not the roasted ones, with the red skin intact and the shells removed. Seed the peanuts when the climate is warm and moist.
Watering
- The soil must always be kept moist, so watering regularly is necessary, as the sandy soil dries out easily. Water while seeding but avoid till the shoots sprout. Till then only keep the soil around the seed moist, without watering it.
Nutrients
- Covering the seeds with compost gives the essential nutrients, but you can use calcium fertilizers which is good for the growth. Also remove weeds and other plants from its immediate vicinity.
Growing
- Peanut plants require little maintenance and so they are very easy to grow. The plant starts sprouting in about two weeks and takes about 120 to 130 days to mature. Yellow flowers bloom which then fall off. The smaller flowers develop the fruit, which then pushes under the soil to mature.
Harvesting
- Harvest the peanuts when the leaves turn yellow. Pull the entire plant out and then set the peanuts to dry for another two weeks.
- While growing peanuts you should select the variety that best suits your environment.
There are four basic types of peanuts.
Virginia
- Has the largest seed.
- Takes 130 to 150 days to mature.
- It grows upto 24 inches tall and spreads over 30 inches wide.
Spanish
- Round seeds with reddish brown skin.
- Takes about 120 days to mature.
- Has high oil content.
Runner
- The seeds are medium in size.
- Takes 130 to mature.
- Runner peanuts grow from a bush that is very low in height.
Valencia
- Three to six seeds in a pod with red skin.
- Takes 100 days to mature.
- Grows to 50 inches tall and spreads over 30 inches wide.