Peanuts

[Jayb]

I remember my granny growing a couple of peanut plants with me when I was very little and I remember that we got some small pods at the end of the summer. I recently sowed a few seeds and they are just sprouting  I'm planing on potting them up and growing them on in the greenhouse. Any tips?

[Jayb]

[pumkinlover]

Keep the squirrels away

Unless you have reds! then plant more

[Jayb]

Lol, excellent advice 

Sadly no red squirrels here.

[Silverleaf]

Keep the squirrels away

Unless you have reds! then plant more

I don't advise planting red squirrels. ;)

Here's hoping the peanuts grow well, I'm dying to know what they look like!

[galina]

Here's hoping the peanuts grow well, I'm dying to know what they look like!

Small plants with leaves looking a bit like clover.  Pretty yellow flowers.

What I would like to know is what the peanuts look like    unfortunately my plants never got as far as making peanuts.

[Jayb]

Here's hoping the peanuts grow well, I'm dying to know what they look like!

Small plants with leaves looking a bit like clover.  Pretty yellow flowers.

What I would like to know is what the peanuts look like    unfortunately my plants never got as far as making peanuts.

I'll try and take a picture this afternoon, though they are quite small at the moment. I'm glad you said they are yellow flowers as I remember them as being white. When we turned out the pots there were a few shells containing the nuts. From memory I think peanuts are a legume and the pods form on the ends of the roots?

[galina]

Here's hoping the peanuts grow well, I'm dying to know what they look like!

Small plants with leaves looking a bit like clover.  Pretty yellow flowers.

What I would like to know is what the peanuts look like    unfortunately my plants never got as far as making peanuts.

I'll try and take a picture this afternoon, though they are quite small at the moment. I'm glad you said they are yellow flowers as I remember them as being white. When we turned out the pots there were a few shells containing the nuts. From memory I think peanuts are a legume and the pods form on the ends of the roots?

Maybe there are white ones.  The ones I had were orangey-yellow and looked like pea flowers.
I'll have a look for an online picture. 
Here is one:

http://fiddleheadcreek.com/peanuts/

Apparently the flowerstalks grow back into the soil where the peanuts develop.  Best of luck with yours, Jayb.   

[Jayb]

Thanks Galina 

Here's one of mine, although still small they are starting to side shoot at the bottom.

[ancellsfarmer]

I am reluctant to discourage all adventure but feel its only fair to caution with the advice that these are tropical crops and require both higher temperatures,lomger days and extended season beyond what is likely in UK. The commercial ground nuts come from China, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the Southern states of USA (Jimmy Carter, sometime President made his original fortune with groundnuts). The harvest of these follows around the world in sequence. The peanuts are not really nuts at all, but an underground seeding legume, strangely more pea than nut. I recommend the Wikipedia reference here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut
Makes a novel pot plant ,though

[Silverleaf]

French beans are tropical too!

I reckon it's entirely feasible to develop peanut that does well in our less-than-tropical conditions by simply growing a few and saving seed from only best one each year, assuming you can get any seeds. Since the flowers are self-pollinated you only need one plant to produce anything anyway.

JayB, what kind of peanuts did you sow? The little redskin ones or the bigger ones? I have a packet of mixed nuts and raisins with both types, and I might try a couple just to experiment.

[Jayb]

Thanks for the concern Ancellsfarmer  this was more for fun and see to how they do rather than a serious planting for keeping my peanut feeders filled year round.

JayB, what kind of peanuts did you sow? The little redskin ones or the bigger ones? I have a packet of mixed nuts and raisins with both types, and I might try a couple just to experiment.

I've no idea what type, just from a pack I had. Go for it 

[Silverleaf]

I'll have a go!

[Jayb]

Yayyy, I've spotted a couple of tiny little yellowy orange flowers on my plants 

[Silverleaf]

Oh I forgot about this! Sounds like yours are going well, how exciting!

[Jayb]

I've no idea how long sown to cropping is, but they seem to grow quite fast, perhaps still worth trying a couple?

[Jayb]

Flowers are tiny but pretty 

[willsy]

Jayb. Did you just plant a red skinned peanut or a full monkey nut in its shell.I want to give it a go and see what I get. lovely yellow flower.

[galina]

Hope you don't mind that I tell you what I did.  Peanuts are related to peas and beans, they are not true nuts but legumes.  The shell is the equivalent to a bean or pea pod.  As we plant individual peas or beans, I thought I would plant them shelled.  And that worked fine and they came up quickly indoors.

Very occasionally unroasted peanuts are for sale in their shells and these are the ones I have tried with.  But there are also peanuts in birdfood mixtures which are not roasted and should work.

Your flowers are lovely Jayb.  Hope you will get peanuts at the end of it - that will be a bonus.  We can't expect a big harvest.  To see any ripe ones would be a triumph - for me anyway     

[Jayb]

Willsy, I planted the individual seeds, go on give it a go 

Thanks Galina, yes anything formed underground would be fantastic 

[ancellsfarmer]

Delighted to read of your progress. I found this rticle which may be of interest:
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CCD/introsheets/peanuts.pdf
Be interested in the outcome.