Lentils

Plant family

Legumes (Fabaceae)

Season Overview

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Dry

Soil

Light (sandy)

Nutrient requirement

Low

Plant distance

5 cm

Row spacing

20 cm

Seeding depth

3 cm

Instructions

Beginning of April

Sowing

Beginning of April

Weeding

Every two Weeks

Beginning of April

Mulch

Description

Lentils belong to the legume family. The annual, bushy climbing plant reaches growth heights between 20 and 50 cm. Only the seeds are eaten. Depending on the lentil variety, the size and color of the seeds differ. Roughly, they are divided into "large-seeded" and "small-seeded". As a legume, it is perfect for green manuring. Its roots enter into a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria. As a result, nitrogen accumulates in the soil. Successive crops, such as high-yielding cabbage crops or cucurbits, benefit from this.

Growing tips

Depending on the variety, sowing begins in mid-April to early May. Lentils are weakly competitive plants. They are not very tolerant of weeds, especially in fertile locations. You should therefore loosen and weed the bed before sowing. Make sure to keep the bed free of weeds. Lentils are climbing plants and appreciate a support. Dry branches from the garden or other climbing aids are suitable for this. Depending on the time of sowing, harvesting begins in mid to late August. Ripe lentils have brown-colored pods. The pods ripen from the bottom to the top of the plant. Therefore, you cannot harvest them all at the same time. You have to keep re-harvesting. Allow the pods to dry and remove the seeds. Then sieve the rest to separate the seeds from the remains of the pods.