How Do Peanuts Grow?

Many people know that peanuts grow underground on a plant like other legumes instead of growing on trees like true nuts. But most people may not be aware of how easy it is to grow a peanut plant. This surprisingly lovely, exuberant plant has a fascinating process by which it produces one of the world’s favorite foods.

To germinate a peanut plant, you need a raw peanut which can be found either at your local specialty grocery or online through various distributors. This raw, ready-to-root peanut should be planted in loose, moist, loamy soil, either in the ground or in a large container. Once the peanut germinates, the plant grows amazingly fast with adorable trios of round leaves that produce an attractive, full plant.

It’s unique, lovely appearance is not the only interesting feature the peanut plant has to offer. As with many plants, it flowers to reproduce, but these pretty little yellow-orange flowers appear not at the tips of the stems but at the base of the branches, low near the ground, and are short-lived, lasting a day at most. Peanut plants are self-pollinating, so even one plant will produce peanuts. Once these secretive flowers have pollinated, the petals wither and a germinating stem appears, traveling from the flower to the soil. Each of these stems will produce a peanut, but these take a long time to grow.

The only drawback to growing peanuts is the long growing cycle. From planting a raw peanut to harvesting your own takes roughly five months of warm weather. For northern climates, this poses a challenge, though peanuts can be germinated indoors for the first part of their growth before being planted outdoors when the weather warms. Even if a gardener cannot start a plant indoors or isn’t interested in harvesting peanuts, the peanut plant is still a delightful addition to any garden.