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Black-eyed peas are actually beans, not peas. They are related to pole beans, bush beans, and other beans that you can find in vegetable gardens all over the world. The plant is known for its unique black spot and is also called cowpeas or southern peas. It comes in both bush and climbing types.
Having black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is thought to bring good luck. If you grow your own, you can get enough for a long time. The young pods can be picked and eaten whole, or the beans can be grown and shelled or dried to keep them fresh for longer.
Black-eyed peas are usually grown in warmer parts of the US because the plants need a long growing season without frost to make a good crop. On the plus side, the plants may not need much care, and if things go right, you can get a good crop without much trouble.
Black eyed peas are a staple in Southern cooking. Their earthy, nutty flavor adds richness to soups, stews, rice dishes and more. While you can purchase canned or dried black eyed peas at the grocery store, growing your own from dried beans offers some advantages. Homegrown peas are fresher, you can grow heirloom varieties not found in stores, and watch the vines grow in your own garden.
When and Where to Plant
Black eyed peas are warm season annuals. They require soil temperatures of at least 65°F to germinate and lots of heat to grow and set pods.
In most regions, plant dried beans directly in the garden 2-3 weeks after the last spring frost date. This gives the soil time to warm sufficiently. Planting too early in cool soil causes rotting.
Choose a sunny location with fertile, well-draining soil. Black eyed peas grow best in loamy or sandy loam soil with a pH between 5.5-7.0 They don’t tolerate wet, heavy clay or acidic soils.
Amend clay soils with compost to improve drainage before planting. In acidic soil below pH 5.5, add ground limestone to raise the pH. Have your soil tested to determine exact deficiencies and requirements.
Pre-Soaking and Inoculating Beans
For quicker germination, pre-soak dried beans for 8-12 hours before planting. Place them in a bowl and cover with 2-3 inches of lukewarm water. After soaking, drain the excess water.
Pre-soaking is especially helpful in drier climates. It speeds up germination when soil moisture is marginal
Inoculate pre-soaked beans with nitrogen-fixing bacteria for stronger, more productive plants. Use a bean-specific inoculant and follow the product instructions. Inoculants provide live bacteria that colonize the roots and draw nitrogen from the air into the soil.
Direct Sowing in the Garden
Once soaked and inoculated, plant beans 1 inch deep and 2 inches apart in rows spaced 3 feet apart. Cover lightly with soil and water gently to avoid disturbing seeds.
If planting unsoaked beans, space them 3 inches apart to account for lower germination rates. Also sow a few extra for insurance.
Thin seedlings to 4 inches apart once the first set of true leaves appear. This provides adequate air circulation and room for vining types to grow. Bush varieties can be spaced closer, 12-15 inches apart.
Supporting Vining Varieties
Bush types grow 12-18 inches tall on single stems. But vining heirlooms can reach over 6 feet. Grow indeterminate vines on trellises, fencing or poles. This keeps long, sprawling plants tidy and improves pod production.
Set up supports along with sowing seeds. Position trellises 3 feet apart to match row spacing. Guide tendrils onto supports as they start to elongate and climb.
Growing Conditions
Black eyed peas thrive in hot, humid weather with temperatures between 70-95°F. Daytime highs around 85°F are ideal. They tolerate drought and need little water once established, only about 1 inch per week.
Apply mulch around plants to conserve moisture and reduce weeds. Avoid overhead watering, which promotes foliar fungal diseases. Instead, use soaker hoses or drip irrigation.
Fertilize lightly with a balanced organic fertilizer, if desired. Well-inoculated peas produce their own nitrogen. Excess nitrogen promotes leafy vines over pods.
Pest and Disease Prevention
Good cultural practices prevent most issues with black eyed peas. Practice crop rotation and provide good air circulation between plants. Control weeds, which harbor pests. Floating row covers exclude insect pests.
If fungal diseases like powdery mildew occur, improve air flow. Water at the base of plants instead of from overhead. Organic fungicides containing neem oil or sulfur provide control when needed.
Caterpillars and bean beetles sometimes eat leaves. Remove them by hand or apply Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or spinosad for safe, organic control.
Harvesting and Storage
Pick young leaves, shoots and green pods starting 40-60 days after planting. Allow most pods to dry on vines for a mature shell bean harvest 70-100 days from sowing.
Monitor drying pods closely and harvest promptly when ready. Over-mature pods split and shatter seeds.
Dry beans further indoors 5-7 days before threshing and cleaning. Store thoroughly dry beans in airtight containers up to a year for planting or eating. Refrigerate fresh shelled peas only 2-3 days. Freeze for longer storage up to one year.
Enjoy an eco-friendly harvest of nutritious black eyed peas grown from heirloom beans you planted yourself. With a little planning and preparation, you can easily grow these Southern favorites in any warm climate.
How to care for black-eyed peas
You can save dried black-eyed peas to use as seeds for next year( credit: Getty s/Siti Aisah)
Water plants well immediately after planting and keep the soil moist throughout their growing season. Black-eyed peas can tolerate warm and dry conditions, but would prefer the ground to be moist. However, they do not respond well to sitting in soggy conditions.
It is especially important to keep them well-watered while the plants are flowering. A soil moisture meter, which you can get on Amazon, might help you check the level of moisture in the soil a few inches below the surface and make sure plants have enough water.
When you do water your crop, make sure to water the soil and not the foliage. When you water your garden, don’t soak the leaves. This can make the plants more likely to get fungal problems like powdery mildew.
Keep the area free of weeds by regularly inspecting the site and removing any unwanted plants as required. Putting a layer of organic matter around young black-eyed peas can help keep more water in the soil and make weeds less likely to grow.
Black-eyed peas tend to not need additional fertilizer throughout their growing season. You should only need to add compost, well-rotted manure, or an inoculant before planting to make the soil more fertile. A nitrogen fertilizer may help soils that aren’t doing well, but it’s important to be careful when adding nitrogen because too much of it can cause a lot of leafy growth but not many peas. Before planting, it might be best to do a soil test to see what nutrients are in the soil and to find any deficiencies that need to be fixed.
There are a few potential pest problems to keep an eye out for. Aphids can hurt plants and spread the bean mosaic virus, which is a disease that can’t be cured and leaves plants with spotted leaves that have to be thrown away. Spraying aphids with soapy water, using companion planting to bring in predators, and putting down diatomaceous earth around plants are all easy ways to get rid of them. Like aphids, leafhoppers can feed on plant sap and make them weak. You can get rid of them with neem oil or insecticidal soap like the Garden Safe Insecticidal Soap you can buy at Walmart.
Where to grow black-eyed peas
The peas are produced in long pods( credit: Getty s/Sheila Brown)
Black-eyed peas prefer a sunny spot, ideally one that gets at least eight hours of sunlight each day. The more sun the plants get, the bigger the harvest will be. As part of a plan to rotate crops, you shouldn’t plant black-eyed peas where you grew legumes for the past three years.
The plants want a soil type that is fertile and free-draining, with a pH of 5. 5-7. Before you plant, it may be helpful to add a lot of organic matter to the area, like compost or well-rotted manure. It’s also possible to improve the plant’s growth and yield by adding a soil inoculant before planting, like the DYNOMYCO Premium Mycorrhizal Inoculant that you can buy on Amazon.
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FAQ
Can you sprout dried black-eyed peas?
Can I grow black beans from dried beans?
How do you plant dried black-eyed peas?
Can I plant black-eyed peas from the grocery store?
How do you grow Black Eyed Peas?
Black-eyed peas grow in areas with full sun but don’t mind afternoon shade. Space cowpea seeds 6 inches apart and plant seeds 1 inch deep in loose, well-draining soil. If using square foot gardening, plant 4 beans per square. The beans tolerate some drought but do best with regular, deep water, especially when flowering. Mulch soil well .
Are Black Eyed Peas high in magnesium?
Black eyed peas are considered a rich source of magnesium compared to other magnesium rich foods. A one cup serving of black eyed peas contains about 90 milligrams of magnesium, which is comparable to one cup of cooked brown rice. The recommended daily amount of magnesium for US men is 420 milligrams and for women; 320 milligrams. Analysis of data from the US national nutrition survey suggests about one-half of the US adult population may be at risk of inadequate magnesium intakes. Eating a varied diet that provides green vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fish, and nuts daily should provide most of an individual’s magnesium requirement.
Are black eyed peas hard to grow?
Heat, low fertility soil, drought. Black-eyed peas are easy to grow and thrive in conditions that wipe out other plants. They’ll encourage you to experiment in the kitchen throughout the growing season, and return to cook savory recipes with the frozen or dried harvest throughout the rest of the year.
Can Black Eyed Peas be harvested?
Versatile enough to use in a wide range of dishes, you can harvest black-eyed peas throughout the growing season. Immature, green pods can be picked before they’re bulging with seeds and cooked just like green beans. Young leaves can also be harvested and steamed or sautéed–just don’t pick more than a third of the plant’s leaves at once.