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Cerbiesmom
- Senior Member
- Posts: 145
- Joined: Thu May 13, 2010 5:39 pm
- Location: Sugar Land, Tx
Purple-eyed peas
I just picked the first few pods that dried on my purple-eyed pea plant! Whew, that was a mouthful. I don't' think I could say that. I was hoping they'd ripen before new years so I can have my own good luck bean meal. And it looks like I'll have plenty if even half of the pods ripen. They just have to get through the cold weather this weekend, and they should be home free. THis was my first time for them. THey're crazy plants. Mine has vined all over the place.
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!potatoes!
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1938
- Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:13 pm
- Location: wnc - zones 6/7 line
??
how are you more-southerly folks running into frost issues with cowpeas (the general category for all those), when I'm in the nc mountains, planted late, and still got a good three-quarters-of-a-gallon of dry peas before temps went down (a month plus ago now)? are you fertilizing a lot (might lead to more leaf growth than flowers/seeds)? watering a lot?
just curious. I plant cowpeas as a drought-tolerant nitrogen-fixing crop, and basically ignore them except to pick off dry pods...this is for both bush and pole types.
...oh, now I see you're talking about second-plantings, etc...that would make a difference.
viva la cowpea, anyway.
how are you more-southerly folks running into frost issues with cowpeas (the general category for all those), when I'm in the nc mountains, planted late, and still got a good three-quarters-of-a-gallon of dry peas before temps went down (a month plus ago now)? are you fertilizing a lot (might lead to more leaf growth than flowers/seeds)? watering a lot?
just curious. I plant cowpeas as a drought-tolerant nitrogen-fixing crop, and basically ignore them except to pick off dry pods...this is for both bush and pole types.
...oh, now I see you're talking about second-plantings, etc...that would make a difference.
viva la cowpea, anyway.
That sounds great. My beans have all been done for some time, now. I did not get any dry beans, though. I just kept on picking them and ate them green.
Someone posted they planted them to fix nitrogen. However, (now, please correct me if I'm wrong) it seems to me that if you let the plants flower and fruit, the nitrogen-fixation benefit is lost
. You did indicate you were growing them to eat, right?
Someone posted they planted them to fix nitrogen. However, (now, please correct me if I'm wrong) it seems to me that if you let the plants flower and fruit, the nitrogen-fixation benefit is lost
. You did indicate you were growing them to eat, right?-
!potatoes!
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1938
- Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:13 pm
- Location: wnc - zones 6/7 line
my understanding is that many legumes fix more nitrogen than they consume...the little nitrogen-nodules on the roots last after flowering/fruiting anyway. also, the fact that my cowpeas are still blooming, still trying to fruit, up until they get smacked down by frost, is a hint that the process continues. any nitrogen still tied up with the roots gets released at time of root-death.
by all means, correct me if I'm wrong.
by all means, correct me if I'm wrong.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
I planted peas late fall more as a nitrogen fixing cover crop than to harvest peas. They are blooming now, but we've also had several frosts and all the night time temps in the ten day forecast now are below freezing. So I don't know (or really care) if they will produce peas. I will just turn the whole plant under in spring.