Since frost/freezing is predicted, and the plants have stopped growing, I decided to dig up the Voandzeia and see what was going on, how they did. well, the results were disappointing. Some plants had no “groundnuts”, beans/peas underneath and those that made seed didn’t make that many.
I broke open one seed pod to show the seed.
The last time I grew them, the plants were started in pots around March. This year, I wanted to try direct seeding, since our growing season is longer than it used to be. Apparently, that doesn’t work in this area. There were a ton of immature “pegs”, female fertilized structures which bury into the ground. When the temperatures dropped below hot, 80+ degree days, it seems the plants stopped growing.
Next time, I’ll go back to starting them in pots. This explains another reason that peanuts replaced Voandzeia as a crop; I can sow peanuts directly here and they’ll produce a lot more seed, food, per square foot. Oh well…live and learn.
