Author Topic: Pigeon Peas/Gandules (Cajanus cajan)  (Read 1598 times)

LivingParadise

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Pigeon Peas/Gandules (Cajanus cajan)
« on: April 03, 2017, 10:55:54 AM »
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Mikesid

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Pigeon Peas
« on: June 25, 2013, 09:59:24 AM »

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I see these growing wild along the road sometime in the city, probably from old plantings...I would like to grow these...anyone try these yet?
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Tomato

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2013, 05:41:52 PM »

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Yes, they make very good hummus.
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Mike T

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2013, 04:48:15 AM »

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I have a couple of plants that have never been watered or fertilized and are in bad spots. They have a few peas on so are very tough plants.
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BMc

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2013, 07:04:50 AM »

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Great for fast growing shade for young trees. Grow and crop 2-3 times per year without any inputs. No idea how to use them though. Great chicken feed. Can have borer problems after 3 years old and encourage pod suckers in sub tropical oz.
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Mikesid

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2013, 06:27:34 AM »

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Quote from: BMc on June 26, 2013, 07:04:50 AM

    Great for fast growing shade for young trees. Grow and crop 2-3 times per year without any inputs. No idea how to use them though. Great chicken feed. Can have borer problems after 3 years old and encourage pod suckers in sub tropical oz.

Someone I work with was showing me these when we were out in the city and said his mom use to cook them all the time when he was a kid...Cuban decent I think..I'll have to find out some recipes..
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Guanabanus

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2013, 11:32:26 PM »

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Another name is Gandules.  Quite tasty, fixed like black-eyed peas or like beans in rice.
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Luisport

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2013, 04:01:54 PM »

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Hi! I just start to trys them here in Portugal! ;D I will tell my experience, but untill now they are fine.
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Luisport

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #7 on: July 24, 2013, 05:40:28 AM »

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Interesting blog: http://pickmeyard.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/please-pass-the-pigeon-peas/#comments
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cfljim

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2013, 05:18:10 PM »

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Pigeon Peas (Cajanus cajan)
I have been growing them for several years now. I use them as a nitrogen fixing agent and because they have a tap root they break up a hard layer of soil I have that is down about a foot.
They become a nice looking bush with great yellow flowers that attract bees. I do not know how long they will live but I pulled the first ones a the end of the third year.
They produce multiple crops a year with many pods. They originally came for India where they are called Toor Dal. Used exsensively in their cooking. Grown and used for cooking in the west indies.
Nice plant but you have to have room to grow it.
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plantlover13

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2013, 06:34:10 PM »

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If you have a indian grocery near you, you can find the seeds dirt cheap.
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LivingParadise

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2015, 08:56:06 PM »

What's the deal with these? Do they need any special care to sprout? I bought a bunch of packets, and planted one entire packet in a grow bag, on the same day as multiple other vegetables. That was close to a month ago. All of the other seeds I planted, including spinach, parsley, cilantro, bok choy, creeping cucumber, artichoke, scarlet runner bean, bitter melon, thai peppers, and a host of other vegetables have sprouted. All have the exact same soil, watering schedule, lighting, etc. Is this bad seeds? Or do I need to coddle the seeds more first, and actually put effort into sprouting them, unlike all the other plants which I just planted directly into their final container?

Usually, I don't need to put a lot of fuss into things to get them to grow, so I did not do anything special with these seeds, like scarify them first, or soak them, or anything... I'm looking forward to planting the rest of the packets, but only once I see the first ones growing!
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from the sea

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2015, 11:01:32 PM »

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I have found soaking helps with beans. I would check to see if they rotted in the soil. I have had luck with buying the bag of dried beans and planting them.
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LivingParadise

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #12 on: May 28, 2015, 08:13:34 AM »

Quote from: from the sea on May 27, 2015, 11:01:32 PM

    I have found soaking helps with beans. I would check to see if they rotted in the soil. I have had luck with buying the bag of dried beans and planting them.


Thanks, I'll look into soaking them. I don't think they could possibly have rotted - the grow bags get excellent drainage. I think it's more likely they're not moist enough. I haven't had any trouble with other beans with this method though, so far my scarlet runner beans, soybeans, bumble bee bush bean, yin yang beans, and purple hyacinth beans all sprouted this way with no difficulty (if sometimes it took a little longer than they might have to start, but I didn't mind). A month is longer than any others have ever taken, though, so I'll try to dig them out if I can find them and soak them to get them started. Otherwise I'll just start a new pack. I'll give an update if I get some success.
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from the sea

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #13 on: May 28, 2015, 08:16:56 AM »

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Hope they grow for you they are cool plants.
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Grandmotherbear

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Re: Pigeon Peas
« Reply #14 on: June 02, 2015, 10:05:56 AM »

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A few years back my friend gave me a plant-pulled the whole plant with dried pods on- she had grown from a bag of dried pigeon peas bought at Publix. I shelled the pods into a bed of sand with a little manure and a little chopped leaves- watered once a week. 4 grew the first year and now I've got a batch of little guys coming up from stuff I dropped and couldn't find while harvesting. Honestly, if your area is hot enough, you shouldn't have a problem with growing them. They need HEAT!
All my reading said that they were treated like annuals for cropping- pull after the first season and replant fresh seeds. I asked an expert gardener at Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO) in N Ft Myers why and he said, Fertilize them and they'll continue to bear. Makes since. Heat degrades nitrogen very quickly. I threw out some 6-6-6 on my pigeon pea plants for every weekend for a month and they started bearing like crazy. So far this year I've 4 flushes of peas to harvest and stashed away lots of peas in the freezer.
I KNOW that the SFL heat causes a LOT of plants to need extra feeding- heck, even Irish potatoes during the winter only gave me 1-2 tubers per plant still I started planting them in 3 inches of Black Kow Manure and toppijng with miracle Grow Garden Soil- then started getting some decent yields!
Pigeon peas are very good in savory dishes. My Jamaican friend suggested in a beef stew, pepper, pigeon pa, rice and coconut milk stew. I learnt the hard way- don't put coconut milk in a rice cooker. WOW what a mess!
Anyone else had anything new with pigeon peas since the original posting.