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Post by Tucson Grower on Jan 6, 2023 13:56:59 GMT -6
I've often thought about growing peanuts. I've watched others grow them, even helped, just never planted any for myself. I'm planning to change that. A 4 foot wide, shallow arroyo runs across the front of my place, just inside the chainlink fence. It's very sandy there, should be good for peanuts. I ordered black and red peanut seed from Baker Creek.
Now, if only my peanut inoculant would, someday leave NY and be delivered here.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jan 7, 2023 14:42:55 GMT -6
Okay, the peanut seed have arrived. It's interesting that they're still inside their shells, but there are no instructions on how to sow them, just where to do it and when. I suppose I should carefully remove the shells, soak them in water, overnight - then the inoculant should adhere to the seed as I plant them - in place.
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Post by macmex on Jan 7, 2023 15:24:41 GMT -6
Ron (heavyhitterokra) probably knows more than I about peanuts. I've grown them a couple of times though. My experience is that they store well in the shells. I've had the still viable a couple of years after harvest, stored at room temperature and in the shell. I have never soaked the seed before planting though I do shell them out, They germinate readily.
I've even grown a few scattered peanuts in the flower gardens at work. I think they are very beautiful.
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Post by june on Jan 7, 2023 16:29:22 GMT -6
That sounds like a great idea, George. I've sort of been down on gardening this winter--I know I should be working on my beds, but I'm just not motivated. I think peanut foliage is so pretty. The idea of planting some here and there amongst my flowers for greenery appeals to me.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jan 7, 2023 16:40:19 GMT -6
I chose Shronce's Deep Black and Tennessee Red. I carefully removed all the shell, and the one thing that was most notable, besides the color, was that the black had thicker/tougher shells, the shells of the red variety were softer and more easily removed.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jan 8, 2023 16:47:51 GMT -6
I've also ordered some "Virginia Jumbo" - to compare a few different varieties, with each other and in how they grow for me, here. There should be as many varieties of peanuts as there are okra, or so it would seem.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Jan 15, 2023 14:46:19 GMT -6
Here's a revision to my estimate of the size of the arroyo, where I plan to plant my peanut crop. My minds eye said it was about 4 feet wide, well it's actually more than 20 feet wide and about 200 feet long. I've been digging sites for three beds of peanuts, one for each variety of seed I've acquired - Shronce's Deep Black, Tennessee Red and Virginia Jumbo. Each bed is about 4 feet wide and 12 feet long. Hopefully enough for a few plants in each. I'm removing about the top 3-4 inches then mixing in enough compost to bring the soil back to level. I already have a drip irrigation line, servicing that area, I'll just need to connect emitters as appropriate.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jan 16, 2023 9:32:21 GMT -6
Peanuts germinate readily here if I peel them out of the shell without removing the papery skin. My problem here is that grasshoppers and rabbits love them just as much as I do.
Your peanuts ought to enjoy that arroyo; they love sandy soil to start their little pegs growing underground. My great-grandpa used to grow peanuts in his strawberry bed, in a separate row. He'd mulch them with straw, just like he would his strawberries. Man, did he get huge harvests that way! He grew them in a raised sandbox mixed with compost that looked sort of like a cold frame without a lid. I was too young to know to ask good questions at the time though, but I still remember him pulling those huge clusters of peanuts out of the sandy pit.
He had a way greener thumb than I ever had. He had a concrete coy pond with a fountain and a hydroponic greenhouse, back in the late 1960s. Too bad we were separated by so many years, I would really have enjoyed spending a lot more time with him before he went.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Feb 8, 2023 10:04:34 GMT -6
A few days ago I planted the 'Shronce's Deep Black' and 'Tennessee Red'. Then, this morning I have the 'Virginia jumbo' all ready to plant; presoaked and coated with inoculant.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Feb 9, 2023 10:26:50 GMT -6
Yesterday, stuff happened and I just now, at 9:00 am, Thursday, 9 Feb 2023, managed to plant the 'Virginia Jumbo' peanuts.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Feb 9, 2023 16:19:11 GMT -6
That’s not bad. I forgot to plant any at all last year. Your posts re reminding me that I still have them. And I just learned about the sandy soil preference.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Feb 17, 2023 16:53:05 GMT -6
Okay, it's been better than a month since I planted all 3 varieties - none have emerged, yet. Obviously it was too cold when I planted them. I will revise my technique and start them, first, in cell-packs, then plant them out into the garden, once it has warmed up a good bit.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Feb 18, 2023 20:35:20 GMT -6
Just before I got on the forum, I checked my e-mail where I get advertisements from some places where I’ve bought seed. There was an announcement from Hoss Tools that they have peanuts back in stock. They had planting times for a couple of zones, and I noticed that the recommended planting time is April for zone 9. Is that your zone?
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Post by Tucson Grower on Feb 18, 2023 23:01:35 GMT -6
Yep, I'm in 9a. But I frequently try unconventional things; they sometimes pay off.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Feb 19, 2023 16:14:57 GMT -6
I’m with you on pushing the envelope a bit. It keeps things interesting, but only if you are prepared for the disappointment if they don’t work out. I find I get more disappointed, though, when I’m not really trying anything unconventional, and things still don’t work. That’s what made the drought and heat of last summer so disappointing with my garden. It was the weather that was unconventional, not me.
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