Peanuts are a joy to grow in your home garden. Once you see how easy it is to grow peanuts you will keep growing them. You can start plants from the raw peanuts that you can buy at your grocery store. You can optionally soak the peanuts to test seed viability but we have noticed that most peanuts usually grow just fine.

Peanut seeds

Peanut seeds

We direct sowed few peanuts in the seed-starting cell in June. Critters, birds love to dis the peanuts out if direct-sowed so it is a good idea to start the plants indoors. Just push the pointed tip of the peanut into the soil and we sowed four peanuts per seed starting cell. You can alternatively buy peanut plant transplants and plant them directly to save time. ????

Peanut plants

Peanut plants

Seedlings are ready to be planted in July. We are planting the seedlings in raised beds, and they grow well in containers too. We planted the seedlings in sandy loam soil, a mixture of sand and rich organic matter like compost and worm castings. The ideal PH to grow peanuts is slightly acidic between 5.8 and 6.2. It?s a good idea to test your soil medium as peanuts don?t grow well in alkaline soil. Space the plants 4 inches apart. They are tropical plants that thrive in hot and humid weather. Water your peanut seedlings thoroughly as soon as you plant them.

Peanut plants fix nitrogen in the soil. The plants use beneficial bacteria and fungi from the soil to add nitrogen to the soil. You can fertilize your peanut plants with fish emulsion/sea weed or worm tea once every 15 days. You can apply neem oil or Spinosad if you see insects or bugs attacking your peanut plants. We didn?t notice any pests attacking our peanut plants. Around 40 -60 days after planting you can see beautiful yellow flowers on your peanut plant which will fall over to the ground to produce peanuts.

Peanut flowers

Peanut flowers

Around 105 days since planting we are ready to harvest the peanut pods. Make sure the plants have become brown and withered completely. You can uproot the entire plant from the soil to expose the peanut shells near the roots. One peanut plant will produce approximately 10-12 peanut pods. Once harvested wash the pods thoroughly and you can enjoy the fresh, delicious peanuts from your home garden.

Peanut harvest

Peanut harvest

Peanut harvest

Watch the entire life cycle of growing peanuts in your home garden here.

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