Lablab purpureus-Chicharos

[wmontanez]

Has anyone grown these legumes? I got some feral seeds from the Caribbean that are adapted to both excessive rain and drought periods. They call them Chicharos over there and are white flower vines with green pods, seeds are light brown when dry. My family has been eating them for years. My mom boils them after removing the husk around the bean. The vines are irritant to the skin so its best to pick them with gloves. Wildlife leaves them alone. They tend to be invasive in the Caribbean and yes perennial. My family only plant 1-2 plants and mix them with other legumes like black eye peas, pigeon peas and pole beans.

I read online that there is a purple flower variety called Hyacinth Bean too.

[zeedman]

Just saw this posted on another forum too. Chances are that the seed you brought back will be day length sensitive, and will not bloom until close to the Autumnal equinox, in September. You would need to have at least another month of warm weather after that to get dry seed.

[richardw]

Is Chicharos a pea Wendy

[blueadzuki]

No Lablab purpureus is what we here call Hyacinth bean, as Wmontanez said.

And I'm afraid Zeedman is right, most lablabs are too day length sensitive to produce seed here. I've been trying for years working with Van (the white seeded kinds used in Indian cuisine) and the similar white kind used in China with basically no success (I think I got one pod once, and even it's seeds were only about half done when the season was over). The only kind that seems to reliably seed here is the ornamental variety Ruby Moon, and the seeds of that are black and too dangerous to eat (like a lot of legumes, the darker the seed the more of the plant toxins are present) though you apparently can eat the immature purple pods raw like green beans even on those types. But I'm in Lower New York and a half to full zone warmer than you so even THOSE may be iffy.

[wmontanez]

Feb 7, 2017 21:19:20 GMT -5 zeedman said:

Just saw this posted on another forum too.

Yes Zeedman, I post also at tomatoville, thanks for your response.

[wmontanez]

But I'm in Lower New York and a half to full zone warmer than you so even THOSE may be iffy.

I grew pigeon peas too and they flower but failed to produuce pods. Very ornamental look.

[zeedman]

Feb 8, 2017 6:25:38 GMT -5 blueadzuki said:

And I'm afraid Zeedman is right, most lablabs are too day length sensitive to produce seed here. I've been trying for years working with Van (the white seeded kinds used in Indian cuisine) and the similar white kind used in China with basically no success (I think I got one pod once, and even it's seeds were only about half done when the season was over).

Blue, have you tried either of the white flowered bush cultivars from Seeds of India? I grew one obtained in a trade, which I believe is the Valor Bean Lakshmi that they sell. It flowered 30 days after planting (in the long days of early July); there were only 3-4 leaves on each plant when the first buds appeared! Many of the pods matured, and I harvested a large amount of dry seed even in my short growing season. If you are interested in trying it, just let me know.

Seeds of India also has Surti Papdi Khyati, which appears to be a bush hyacinth bean grown for its edible green seeds. Judging by posts I have seen elsewhere, it too appears to be day neutral. I plan to trial it in my climate this year.

[blueadzuki]

Hard to say. I have some seed that is PROBABLY Surti. That is I have a bush lablab and, as bush types are in the far minority, it's probably that one.

I'm not sure about the Laksmi. Most of my whites were picked out of bags (ironically one of the commonest packers around here of Indian dry beans is also called Laksmi)

But the truth is it does not really matter to me one way or the other. I don;t much care for the taste of lablabs (green OR mature) so what I grow is ornamental and mostly based on my attempts to try and make one that is somewhere between the standard purple and white (be it pink, bicolor or streaked) So a pure white one isn't much use to me. But I may try it at some point.

I have also heard rumors of red flowered lablabs but every time I think I have found one, a little research proves it to be purple and someone just made a mistake.