One of the first plants that many children discover are chickpeas, lentils, and other legumes that are easy to germinate and many kindergartens and schools use them to teach children how a plant can come out of something so simple. In this case, if you want to teach your children, or if you want to consume yourself, how about we help you grow a potted chickpea plant.
You know that It is not complicated at all and you could have a much richer harvest for your spoon dishes. Shall we get to work? Go for it.
How to have your chickpea plant in a pot
Let's start with the simplest, and that is germinate the chickpeas to be able to plant them in a pot. What do you need?
- Chickpeas.
- Some cotton.
- A glass jar.
- Water.
There's no more. For now.
sprout chickpeas
The first thing you will need is to germinate the chickpeas. And for this we recommend the following:
- Take the glass jar and put some cotton in it. It doesn't take much, but it does take a good foundation.
- Then pour a little water, it does not have to be covered, but at least they are wet.
- When you already have it, add the chickpeas. What some do is cover these to create a greenhouse effect and thus germinate faster, but it is not necessary.
- In a matter of about 5 days you will have the chickpeas germinated (if there is one that has not done it, the best thing you can do is discard it because it may not be good).
At that moment you will have to take the chickpeas that have already germinated (you will see them with a small root that is coming out). But you'll need to pot them up to move on.
Planting the chickpeas in a pot
Since the chickpeas are still very weak, we do not recommend planting them in a planter or directly in the ground. It is better to do it in a pot, yes, but in a small one. And as soon as you see it grow more you can transplant it to a medium to large size.
This step is not always done, since many times it is left for a longer time in the glass jar and right after it is put in the final pot, so this will be to your liking.
The ultimate pot
We want to make a paragraph to tell you about the ideal pot for those who want to grow the chickpea plant in a pot. In this case you must make sure that the pot is at least 30 centimeters deep. If it's more, even better.
The potted chickpea plant develops quite long and large roots and will need space to not slow down its development and growth. Or worse, die.
Also, you must check for drainage holes since, although the plant germinates in water, and you may think that it likes it, in reality, flooding can kill it.
The ideal substrate for your potted chickpea plant
In addition to the pot that you are going to use, another of the most important elements when planting chickpeas is the type of soil that you are going to use.
In this case we recommend that you make a soil mix with compost and earthworm humus. In addition, we would also add a little perlite so that it is looser and does not cake or get too wet.
You should plant the chickpeas about 2-3 centimeters deep and also separated from each other at least 6 centimeters. When covering, do not add too much earth, nor do you think about crushing it or pouring water on it. It is preferable to make a small furrow around it and water like this to avoid rotting the chickpea.
When they are seedlings, you can plant them a little deeper but respecting a separation something bigger so that the plants do not fight each other.
The most important care of the potted chickpea plant
You already have your chickpea plant in a pot, either in a small one or in the final one. And now you don't have to ignore it. Quite the opposite.
From this moment on, and for several weeks, you will have to take care that your plant grows well and that it succeeds. And for this you must take into account the following care:
Location
Plant it needs a lot of sunlight. We could even tell you to place it in direct sunlight, but it will depend on whether it gets too hot (to the point of burning the leaves).
Temperature
Make sure that the temperature is maintained between 25 and 35ºC. If it falls below these, it can slow down its development and then it would start with some shortcomings and it might not come to fruition.
Irrigation
Despite what you might think at first, the truth is that the chickpea plant is not very "friendly" to water. In fact, if you go too far with watering you can end up killing it.
So what we recommend is that establish a watering pattern of about 2-3 times a week. Everything will depend on the weather and above all on the land. If you see that it is not dry yet, do not water. If, on the contrary, it is drying up, then it is time to water.
It is preferable to water more times with little quantity than to do it only once or twice and abundantly. Of course, make sure that when watering it does not fall on the leaves, you have to water on the ground since that could cause them to burn or rot in the sun.
When the chickpeas are harvested
If you have taken care of your potted chickpea plant, you will have seen that it has been getting bigger and bigger. Well, about 100 days after planting it, After approximately 3-4 months, you will already be able to obtain the chickpea harvest that you have managed to get from your plant.
We cannot tell you if it will be a big harvest or a small one, because everything will depend on the care you give it, the variety of chickpeas, the weather... but there is usually enough to enjoy it.
Now that you know how to grow the chickpea plant in a pot, would you dare to do it at home? It doesn't matter if you have children or not, its cultivation is so easy that it can even be used by beginners to adapt to the cultivation of plants and gain experience.