Chickpeas/garbanzos

[steev]

While clearing the (mostly star thistle) weeds out of an area prior to planting cowpeas, I found a vigorous garbanzo plant, left over from a failed planting last? year. I've no idea what sort it is, other than tough enough, so I'm going to encourage it to flourish and produce many seed that I can plant. May its tribe increase, to our mutual benefit, inshAllah!

[raymondo]

I've just remembered something about chickpeas some might find useful. Our state ag department recommends commercial growers sow them deep - 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 in) is standard but up to 15 cm is sometimes recommended. Part of the reason has to do with better root establishment in drier conditions. Another is that there is better inoculant take and so better nodulation.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Ottawagardener and others: I finally planted the chickpea seed that you sent. They are rather slow growing and delicate plants (normal chickpea I suppose) so I almost lost them among the weeds. They are currently weeded and setting fruit, so it looks like this year will be my first year harvesting garbanzo beans.

[steev]

I planted two varieties early Spring, which are quite gone, now. I planted Black Kabuli in April, which is drying seed very productively, but the plants are mostly still green and growing. I'm surprised they've not been done in yet by the heat.

[ottawagardener]

Good news. Yes they are delicate looking though they can be heavy setters for a small plant. Threshing is a pain.

[steev]

I would suppose you find threshing a pain because the pods aren't dry enough; when fully dry, they can be tread out fairly well. Like teparies, if allowed to fully dry on the plant, there is a tendency to shatter.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

For the first time in my life I had a successful crop of garbanzo beans this summer. I picked them a couple days ago. Thanks OttawaGardener and others who sent seed. I was expecting them to be a pain to harvest and thresh, but it was simple: Grab the base of the plant and slide my hand upwards to collect a handful of pods. Since they were already quite dry I stomped on them to break the pods open, then winnowed. Next year I'll treat them like I do beans and peas and let the pods dry for a few days before threshing. There were a few green pods still. The harvested seeds were tiny compared to grocery store seeds, but any harvest is better than I have done in previous years. Winnowing was very easy since we had a 20 mph wind in the garden the day I picked them.

[blueadzuki]

Aug 12, 2013 12:51:35 GMT -5 Joseph Lofthouse said:

The harvested seeds were tiny compared to grocery store seeds, but any harvest is better than I have done in previous years.

Well, they're all desi's, I can see that from the picture. desi types just aren't as large seeded as Kabouli types. If your REALLY desperate to get a big seeded one Richter's seed zoo has a type called the Munk's Morroccan that they say was chosen as the largest brown (desi type) chickpea they could find, so that may be close to Kabouli sized. I'm trying some next year maybe (I'd offer to send you some seed, but I don't like to count my chickens before their hatched.)

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Thanks Blue:

In previous years I planted Kabouli chickpeas (from the grocery store which was the only kind of chickpeas in my experience). This is the first time that I have planted Desi chickpeas.

I found a bag of Hopi beans at the farm-store last time I bought fertilizer. I'm looking forward to sorting through those. No telling so far if they are honest Hopi beans or just a marketing ploy.

[blueadzuki]

You're welcome

I'll have to do a little searching through my supplies. There may have been a few oversized desis in that Korean stuff I found a few months ago. I'd offer you some of what I grew a few years ago as well, but I think all I have left are "stickers" and no one apart from a botanist would EVER want to grow them (the small bumps on the seed coats make them stick like Velcro, so they tend to get dirt, mud, vegetable matter etc PERMANANTLY stuck in them, making them near useless as food.)

[steev]

I put 1/2 cup of my Kabouli Black garbanzos (they're much smaller than common ones) to soak last night; to my disappointment, at least 1/4 of them seem to have taken in no water at all, remaining hard little tooth-breakers. Any ideas what that's about; can they only be sorted and tossed?

[blueadzuki]

That happens a lot, with desis; because the skins are so much thicker, a lot of them don't imbibe easily. If you are cooking them the hot water/jostling due to boiling can usually get through (though not always) If you are growing them you can simply chip a bit off the seed coat of each one that didn't imbibe; the hole will let the water in (I suggest making the hole on the fat end that way you don't risk damaging the radicle.)

[steev]

Thanks.

[blueadzuki]

scan of some of the "sticker" chickpeas

[mountaindweller]

Under which conditions are they autumn planted? Do they need approx. the same temperature than broad beans?