Every year the garden plots of gardeners and gardeners are replenished with new types of vegetable crops. Thanks to the efforts of breeders, the plants, whose homeland are the southern countries, grow successfully in Russia. A pleasant novelty for Russians is the cowpea beans. If you provide her with proper care, then even the Moscow region and the Urals are suitable for growing crops.

General information about culture

The cultivation of cowpea beans goes back to West Africa. The cultivation of the vegetable took place over 6,000 years ago in the process of growing African millet and sorghum on African land plots. After that, legumes were cultivated in the Middle East, India and China. The process of growing and caring for beans eliminates global hassles, it is filled with aesthetic joy, and also guarantees high yields.

Note!The best predecessors for cowpea are potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage and cucumbers.

The appearance of cowpea is similar to asparagus, but it has nothing to do with this species and cannot be crossed with beans. This type of vegetable is a herbaceous annual plant that can be found in the form of a bush - climbing, tall or short. It looks very beautiful during the flowering period.

The appearance of the cowpea

One stem of a vine can reach up to 4 m in height, and the brushes have blades, the length of which is 1 m. As for the yield, about 3 kg of beans can be harvested from one bush. In the process of ripening the crop, the vine becomes heavy, in need of a solid support, which can be chosen as a terrace, balcony or gazebo.

Features and characteristics of the variety

Today, several varieties of cowpea beans are popular:

  • Japanese:
  • Korean;
  • Vietnamese;
  • Chinese.

The culture initially became very popular among the people of China, who independently bred the asparagus variety. Then the gentle, long shoulder blades without yellow veins became popular all over the world.

Vigna beans require warmth, so the southern regions are a suitable cultivation area. But the breeders managed to expand the growing area to the Central and Western regions of Russia, where the early variety can be grown in greenhouse conditions.

Early variety

It is possible to fill the human body's need for trace elements, as well as in various vitamins, by including beans in the daily diet. Chinese beans are rich in sodium and potassium, which help drain excess fluid and reduce swelling. It also contains arginine, thanks to which the level of hemoglobin in the blood is normalized, blood pressure is reduced and diabetes is treated. As a preventive measure, you can use tea from dried pods.

Gardeners prefer asparagus varieties, which are distinguished by delicate taste, which do not include hard fiber:

  • Vigna Countess is a variety of asparagus beans of an early productive subspecies. The crop ripens within 2 months after mass shoots appear. It reaches 3 m in length, and the size of the beans is 50 cm. The planting material has a black tint. In growing beans, the Countess is unpretentious. Up to 3 kg of beans can be harvested from 1 m².
  • Macaretti is a medium-ripening bean variety. At the end of 2.5 months after the mass germination, the beans can be harvested. The whip weaves up to 3 m, the green bean pod has a curved shape.About 2 kg of fruits are harvested from 1 m² of land.

    Macaretti

  • Korean is an early bush variety. Bean fruits reach 12 cm in length. Very little space is required to care for compact bushes.

Whitepea beans: planting and care in the open field

Planting cowpea should begin with preliminary preparation of the land plot and selection of quality seeds. Suitable conditions for growing beans can be determined by their origin. Light areas are vital for the plant, which will be reliably protected from the wind. Wet and acidic soil is excluded, as it can cause significant damage to the crop.

With the onset of spring, the garden bed must be dug up, fertilized with compost or humus with the addition of superphosphates. In April, you need to re-loosen the soil and fertilize with a special complex of minerals. Vinga beans are capable of significantly depleting the land, therefore, it is possible to re-plant them in the same place only after 3 years.

Re-loosen the soil

To process the planting material, you need to prepare a manganese solution and keep the seeds in it for 20 minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Then they warm up in warm water. Phytosporin and phytocide will help accelerate germination.

It is worth planting seeds in a pot at least 1 month before preliminary planting in open soil. Experienced gardeners do this in the second half of April. In each planting container with damp heated soil, you need to plant 3 seeds, the depth of the hole should not be more than 1 cm.

In the first days after planting, the pots should be covered with glass to maintain moisture, and placed on a window on the south side of the room. For seed germination, the temperature must be at least 15 ° C. In order for the first 4 leaves to appear, the land is regularly watered, after which the frequency of irrigation is reduced.

During the first month of growth and development of beans, it is not recommended to feed the plants.

Important!Seedlings are planted in open ground only after stable heat is achieved and the absence of repeated frosts is recorded, and the soil has warmed up to a depth of 10 cm.

The garden bed must be thoroughly moistened. The sprouts are planted, maintaining a distance of at least 70 cm. The distance between the rows should be 80 cm. The bed is mulched and covered with a film material stretched over special arcs. After the temperature of 15 ° C is reached, the protection must be opened.

It is also possible to plant cowpea beans by seeds directly into the open ground. After all the procedures for processing the planting material, the cowpea is planted in the soil. It is better to sow seeds in the second half of May in holes, the depth of which is 5 cm. Plant 3 seeds in each hole. As soon as the first shoots appear, you need to leave one healthy plant. The early stage of bean development involves covering with a film.

Caring for beans during the growing season includes fertilizing, watering, loosening the soil and weeding. Vigna is a drought-resistant plant, so it is watered after the first buds appear. As soon as the seedlings reach 7 cm in height, the soil will need to be loosened.

Bean care during the growing season

In parallel with watering, fertilizing is carried out. To prepare the solution, you need to take:

  • potassium chloride - 5 g;
  • superphosphate - 15 g.

In the absence of potassium, it can be replaced with ash. Next, it is worth dissolving all these ingredients in 1 bucket of water. After that, a furrow is made along the entire length of the row, the depth of which should be 5 cm. With the help of a fertilizer solution, the hole must be shed and mulched over the soil.

For those varieties of cowpea that curl, a support should be installed, which is used as a cucumber net stretched over the frame. When the liana reaches 3 m, it is pinched, due to which the accelerated ripening of the crop is achieved.

The collection of legumes begins 10 days after the fruit has formed. They are distinguished by their fleshy, juicy pulp and milky ripeness.After the first harvest of the beans, the re-formation of new fruits begins. Mass growth and ripening involves harvesting every 3 days.

Important!Green sprouts of cowpea beans are not subject to long-term storage, they can wither and turn yellow. For long-term storage and obtaining a useful vitamin product, the pods are frozen in winter.

If growing a crop involves obtaining planting material or grain, you need to allow the beans to ripen in the pods and dry out. The seeds are husked, dried, placed in a cool dry place and stored. The germination properties of seeds can be maintained for more than 5 years.

Advantages and disadvantages of cowpea

Advantages and disadvantages of cowpea

The benefits of cowpea beans include several beneficial and medicinal properties. Specialists identified several significant advantages:

  • the presence of potassium and sodium in the vegetable, thanks to which the plant is used to eliminate puffiness;
  • legumes normalize and restore the cardiovascular system;
  • eating cowpea in food contributes to maintaining an ideal shape and getting rid of excess weight.

Asparagus is actively used to eliminate anemia, in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. With the help of cowpea, diseases of the liver, pancreas and gallbladder are treated.

The disadvantage of culture is that its composition is replete with toxic substances. Vegetable pods must be cooked before being eaten. If an individual intolerance to a vegetable is found, it is strictly forbidden to use cowpea.

This concludes the description of the cowpea. If you do everything as listed above (choose a suitable variety, properly process the seeds and monitor the shoots), then the harvest of unusual beans will not take long.