Lentils: growing them in the country, agricultural cultivation techniques. Growing lentils in the country How to sow lentils

A plant such as lentils is considered the most ancient valuable crop cultivated by humanity. A healthy product that has an original spicy aroma, exquisite taste and is easy to prepare. And the unique composition makes dishes prepared on its basis the most beneficial food for the human body.

Biological description and characteristic features of culture

Lentils are an annual herbaceous plant that belongs to the legume family. In the process of growth and development, it forms low bushes, the height of which varies from 30 to 60 cm. The root system is well developed, characterized by power and assertiveness.

Erect, thin stem, height from 20 to 55 cm, depending on the variety and soil moisture. The bushes are decorated with complex and alternate oval-shaped leaves located on the petioles. The leaf blade is slightly pointed towards the end, and there is a tendril at the end.

The lentil bush looks very impressive at the moment of flowering - all in a halo of small flowers of various colors, with a large number of stamens and five petals. The fruits are round, flat beans reaching two centimeters in size. There are large-seeded or plate lentils, used as a food product, and small-seeded, which are intended as feed for livestock.

The duration of the growing season is from 75 to 115 days. Flowering begins in June. And at the end of August it is already possible to harvest the healing harvest.

The main advantages of the plant include:

Among the many advantages of the crop, there is only one drawback: uneven ripening and low location of the pods, which makes harvesting difficult.

Southern Europe and Western Asia are considered the birthplace of the culture, where beans have grown presumably since the Neolithic era. Its mention is noted in the Old Testament, and remains have been discovered in the pyramids of Egypt and prehistoric Switzerland. Where lentils now grow is listed below:

Technology of growing and caring for legumes

Before you grow the crop, you need to know how lentils grow. The plant is grown by sowing seeds in open ground and cultivated as a leguminous crop. The peculiarities of lentil cultivation are the organization of ideal conditions for growth.

When choosing a location, you should give preference to sunny areas protected from strong winds, since lentils are heat-loving plants. The plant grows well on loamy, sandy loam and cultivated soils. It should not be grown in saline or acidic soils.

Such soil greatly reduces the quality and quantity of the crop. Corn, potatoes and winter crops are considered good predecessors. And lentils themselves are an ideal predecessor for other crops, since they can enrich the soil with nitrogen.

For sowing, you should use only large and clean seeds, which should be soaked in solutions of a growth stimulant overnight to increase yield. Before planting, the planting material must be dried.

Stages of the planting process:

Lentil shoots appear in 10-14 days. In the first month and a half, their growth is slow, as the plant accumulates strength to bloom flowers. At the end of flowering, a time of intensive growth and branching begins.

The crop is characterized by uneven ripening, so harvesting should be carried out in two stages. First, collect the beans from the lower and middle stems of the bush, and then, during the final harvest, from the top of the plant. There is no point in delaying harvesting, because overripe beans tend to crack and the seeds to spill out.

Despite the unpretentiousness of the plant, it still requires care and proper care. Basic crop care activities include:

By following all agrotechnical practices, you can grow a high-quality crop even on a small plot of land.

Delicious lentil dishes are indispensable for a healthy diet, as they are easily absorbed by the human body, as well as the natural enrichment of the soil with nitrogen - the main reasons for the cultivation of the crop.

One of the tasty and healthy plants of the legume family is lentils. Unfortunately, it is not yet so often found in the gardens of Russian summer residents. But in vain, because lentil fruits are extremely beneficial for the human body, containing many vitamins and minerals, as well as other active substances. This legume annual can be grown not only in open ground, but also at home. Lentil cultivation technology, planting and care, pest control - all this and much more will be discussed in this article.

How to Grow Lentils

This legume annual is unpretentious, but to get a large harvest of lentils, you should try a little.

You should start by choosing a site for sowing seed. This vegetable crop will not grow well in the shade, and the yield will be small. On the contrary, in a sunny place, where the above-ground part of this annual is regularly illuminated by the rays of the sun, lentils grow and develop beautifully. It is best to choose neutral, loose and light soils - it is optimal if this vegetable plant is grown on sandy or loamy soils.

Important! Acidic soils are not suitable for this crop. If there is only such soil on the plot, then in the fall the place intended for lentils should be limed.

During spring digging, fertilizers should be added, which include phosphorus and potassium. The rate of this fertilizer is up to 50 g per 1 m².

Lentils

All about planting lentils in open ground

How to grow lentils in the country? It’s very simple if all the preparatory work has already been done - a location has been chosen, the soil has been fertilized, and the beds have been prepared.

After the soil has warmed to a depth of 15 cm, the seed can be planted. How to plant lentils, and are there any differences from planting other legumes? There are no significant differences, but it won’t hurt to repeat the information.

Important! Lentil seeds are pre-soaked for a day in water to which any growth stimulant has been added. This procedure allows you to increase the germination of seed material several times.

After the seeds are removed from the nutrient solution, they should be dried. Furrows up to 4.5 cm deep are made in the beds, into which prepared seeds are sown. They are covered with earth on top, compacted and watered.

The first shoots appear after about two weeks. If necessary, the seedlings are thinned out so that in the future the grown plants do not interfere with each other. In the first month and a half, this annual plant grows too slowly, so some novice gardeners think that they have done something wrong. There is no need to be afraid - after the buds appear on the stems, the lentils will grow rapidly.

First lentil sprouts

How to plant lentils in the garden - it’s clear, it’s not difficult. Further agrotechnical measures for growing lentils at the dacha will be described below.

The seeding rate for lentils is up to 200-220 grains per 1 m². Row spacing should not be more than 16-17 cm.

When growing crops, remember that planting and further caring for lentils in open ground will not cause much trouble.

Care and pest control

After seedlings have appeared, further care of young plants consists of regular watering and constant removal of weeds. If you do not fight weeds, they gradually choke out this vegetable crop, preventing it from growing, and also take useful substances from the soil.

Attention! One of the best herbicides for lentils that helps fight weeds is Pilot. The main condition for using this product is that the ambient temperature should not be higher than 24°C.

A month and a half after the appearance of the first shoots, the lentils begin to bloom. During this period, the plant becomes strong and powerful, so it needs less moisture, and also tolerates the heat period calmly.

Cultivation after flowering means, first of all, observing the watering regime. During this period, it should be watered no more than once every 3 days. If the soil moisture is high, this legume plant will slow down the ripening of its beans.

Lentils in open ground

In addition to basic agrotechnical measures, this legume crop should be protected from diseases and pests. The main diseases that can affect lentils:

• powdery mildew;
• ascochyta;
• rust;
• fusarium;
• root rot.

In the fight against these diseases, fungicides and antibacterial drugs are most effective. Treatment of plants is carried out once, but if necessary, this procedure should be repeated.

Features of lentil agricultural technology (including in Altai and Siberia)

When cultivating lentils in any region, you should remember: fertilizers containing nitrogen are not applied to these plants. After all, this plant itself is capable of supplying the soil with this mineral. The main elements that lentils need are potassium, calcium and phosphorus. The latter strengthens the root system, activates the development of buds, and promotes the rapid ripening of beans. And a sufficient amount of potassium in the soil is the key to a future large harvest.

When planting lentils in Altai or Siberia, agricultural cultivation techniques differ little from similar activities in other regions of our country. But, given the short summer season, it is better to choose early-ripening crop varieties for planting in these areas.

Growing lentils in a greenhouse

It is possible to grow lentils in cold regions. To protect this crop from possible cold snaps, vegetable growers use greenhouses. The technology for cultivating lentils in the Altai Territory involves observing the irrigation regime and applying fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium.

Features of growing at home

Since the bushes of this legume are not tall and the flowers are self-pollinating, it can also be grown at home. The plant does not require special maintenance conditions, and cultivation at home is practically no different from planting and caring for a garden. Containers with growing plants should be placed on the south or southwest side so that the sprouts receive enough sunlight.

Watering should be regular, but not excessive. After buds appear on the bushes, the amount of watering should be reduced. Plants should be fed more often than in garden beds, since the volume of the containers is not too large, and this crop quickly absorbs nutrients.

Growing at home

How to peel lentils at home

In industrial conditions, lentil beans are peeled from the husks using special machines. Lentils are placed in a special sieve, and with the help of vibration, the grains are separated from the husk.

At home, when the harvest volume is not so large, you can simply rub the lentils between your palms. Mechanical friction can clean all the beans. Alternatively, you can use a regular fine sieve for cleaning. In this case, the beans are placed on a sieve and ground by passing your palms over it.

Attention! Well-dried lentils clean much better.

So, in order for strong and healthy lentils to grow, cultivation requires vigilant control. This article talked about how to plant lentils in the garden. There is no doubt that this legume will become no less popular among vegetable growers than peas or beans. Moreover, there are many delicious and nutritious dishes that can be prepared from the harvested crop.

This vegetable plant is useful, but not widespread in our latitudes. Lentils are the oldest food plant crop. The seeds of this plant were discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs.

Lentils, as a legume, contain vital elements. It contains a large amount of protein (35%), which makes the dishes quite high in calories, carbohydrates - up to 50%, which do not become fat in the body. This is a very valuable quality of lentils. It also contains nicotinic acid and many other useful substances. There are 2 subspecies of this plant - small-seeded and large-seeded (plate) lentils. The second species is distinguished by drought resistance, early maturity, is cultivated in different temperature conditions, and is also unpretentious in cultivation.

The growing season of soybeans is 2.5-4 months, which depends on the composition of the soil, climatic conditions and variety. Seeds germinate at a temperature of +4 degrees. They are not afraid of light frosts, so lentils can be sown quite early, after preparing for cultivating the land.

Make the seeding depth no more than 5cm, the planting pattern between rows is 10-12cm, and maintain a distance of 10-12cm between plants. After sowing, you can slightly roll the surface of the soil, which helps speed up seed germination. Sprouts should appear in 8-10 days.

In order for the plants to form correctly, it is advisable to provide a temperature of 18-22 degrees, remove weeds and fertilized soil. To grow lentils, it is better to use sandy loam, loose loamy soil rich in lime. In acidic and heavy soils, the quantity and quality of the crop decreases.

Feed lentil plantings with potash or phosphate fertilizers, which should be applied before digging in the fall or spring. When sowing, you can add granulated superphosphate to the soil, and after planting, powder the surface of the bed with wood ash.

To prevent the growth of green mass, which reduces productivity, it is better not to use it as a fertilizer.

Lentils grow slowly before flowering. She needs regular watering. But then its growth intensifies, and it begins to branch. After germination, after 1.5 months, flowering usually begins.

A significant advantage of this crop is that it is self-pollinating. A small disadvantage is the low location of the pods, which ripen unevenly.

The lower pods ripen first, followed by the middle level, and the top beans last. Harvesting should begin when the lower pods turn brown.

Try not to be late with harvesting, as the beans crack when overripe, after which the seeds spill out.

Top fruit beans that have not ripened after harvesting should be kept under cover. A film or paper is usually spread under the seeds. Dried lentils are husked and peeled.

How to grow lentils video

Like other leguminous crops, lentils improve gardening by fixing nitrogen from the air.

In our country, as throughout the world, it is grown common lentils(cultural). This is an annual plant with a height of 25-60 cm in the varieties common in production. The stem is almost erect or slightly decumbent, tetrahedral, branched. The leaves are compound, pinnate with 2-8 pairs of leaflets, ending in a tendril or tendril primordium. Leaves are oval or linear. The flowers are small, 5-8 mm long, white, pink, violet-blue. The bean is single-locular, double-leafed, flattened, rhombic, 1-3-seeded. The seeds are flat, plate-shaped or almost spherical, 3-9 mm in diameter. The color of the seeds varies from light green to black. Cotyledons are orange or yellow, rarely green. The weight of 1000 seeds of varieties common in production ranges from 25 to 80 g.

General requirements of the most common lentil varieties in the heat during the growing season is 1500-1800°C effective temperatures (> +10°C). In the Leningrad region, this figure is 1600-1800°C, that is, within the ripening range of the crop. Lentils begin to germinate at a temperature of 3-5°C, but vigorous shoots appear after 7-10 days only when sown in soil heated in a 10 cm layer to 7-10°C. The seedlings tolerate frosts of 5-6°C easily. Not only young but also adult lentil plants are resistant to frost. After emergence, lentils are more demanding of heat; they grow and develop normally at an average daily temperature of 17-19°C. During the period of filling and ripening of seeds, the optimal temperature is 19-20°C. During swelling and germination of seeds, lentils require moisture. However, during the period of flowering and seed formation, it reacts negatively to excess moisture, in this case its growing season is lengthened, and it is severely affected by diseases - gray and white rot.

Growing lentils in gardens and household plots

Now in our country it is zoned 9 varieties of lentils: Vekhovskaya, Vekhovskaya 1, Niva 95, Penzenskaya 14, Petrovskaya 4/105, Petrovskaya 6, Petrovskaya zelenozernaya, Petrovskaya Jubilee, Rauza. All of them are large-seeded, plate-shaped, which is valued when grown as vegetable plants. Of these, the most attractive for these purposes is the Petrovskaya Zelenozernaya variety, since it has green-colored cotyledons. Small-seeded lentils are usually grown for feed. In more northern regions, it can be sown for food purposes, since it is less demanding on growing conditions and is less affected by diseases. The varieties Stepnaya 244, Severnaya, Novourenskaya 3565 are useful here.

Proper placement of lentils in crop rotation. On a personal plot, it is best to sow it after potatoes. In turn, lentils are a good predecessor for many crops, since they enrich the soil with nitrogen by fixing it from the air. It also leaves the soil free of weeds and in good physical condition. Lentils have long been called the crop of the poor, since their plants are one of the most unpretentious. Therefore, its cultivation was also within the power of the poor segments of the population, whose farming was carried out most extensively; poor soil cultivation did not make it possible to cultivate other more demanding plants. However, lentils produce high yields only on chernozems, well-humused light loams or sandy loams rich in lime. On heavy acidic and saline soils with high groundwater levels, it is low-yielding. When cultivating in more northern regions of Russia, southern and southwestern slopes should be allocated for lentil crops.

Manure is not applied directly to this crop, since it promotes the development of the green mass of the plant to the detriment of the seed yield, therefore organic fertilizers are used for the previous crop. Lentils are responsive to mineral fertilizers. Doses of fertilizer application depend on the content of mineral nutrition elements in the soil. On personal plots, for autumn digging you can add 30-40 g/m² of simple superphosphate, 6-10 g/m² of potassium chloride; in the spring, when sowing, granulated superphosphate 6-7 g/m² is added to the rows. On acidic soils, liming is necessary. For this purpose, lime, dolomite, phosphate rock, and shale ash are used. Doses are set taking into account the acidity of the soil. If lentils are sown on the site for the first time, then to enhance its nitrogen-fixing ability before sowing, it is necessary to treat the seeds with bacterial preparations: nitragin or rhizotorphin. Although the same type of nodule bacteria can infect peas, vetch and lentils, so if you sow lentils in an area where the mentioned leguminous crops successfully grew, they will quickly find a partner. Also, before sowing, the seeds are moistened with microfertilizers: ammonium molybdate at the rate of 0.5-1.6 g per 1 kg of seeds and boric acid in the same dose.

Lentils are sown in the early stages, simultaneously with early spring crops, when the soil temperature at the seeding depth (5-6 cm) reaches 5-6°C. They are sown mainly in a continuous row with row spacing of 15 cm. The seeding rate for lentils is 14-16 g or 200-250 seeds per m² for large-seeded varieties and 7-10 g/m² (270-320 seeds per m²) for small-seeded varieties. To ensure uniform germination and leveling of the field surface, the area must be rolled after sowing.

Lentil crop care is to create a favorable air-water regime for plants, combat weeds, pests and diseases. To destroy weeds, harrowing is carried out with a rake along the seedlings across the rows or diagonally of the plot when the plants reach 6-7 cm in height and are well rooted in the soil. Harrowing should be done during the midday hours, when the plants are not so fragile and are less damaged. In garden plots, harrowing can be done using a rake, and then weeding is carried out manually. In dry weather, lentils are watered.

On personal plots lentils can be removed simple tugging, that is, pulling out plants by the roots, tying them into sheaves. And after drying under a canopy, you can thresh it using a flail or stick, placing the sheaves in a bag.

I. Yankov, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, VIR named after N. I. Vavilov