Vigna unguiculata
Black-eyed pea
Common names: Cowpea, Black-eyed bean
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 20 cm, rows 60 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- May–Jun
- Harvest
- Aug–Oct
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 2 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: HeraldDesa at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The black-eyed pea (Vigna unguiculata) is native to Africa and prefers warm climates more than any other common bean. It produces long, slender pods with seeds that feature a distinctive dark eye, giving the plant its name. The plant tolerates dry, hot summer weeks well, making it suitable for sunny, sheltered beds or containers on a terrace. In the DACH region it thrives best in warm locations or after a pre‑sowing period indoors, as it dislikes early spring frosts and cool nights. Both young, green pods and mature dry seeds can be harvested for fresh use or storage.
Care instructions
Sow after the last frost, around mid‑May (week 20), directly in a warm bed or start indoors at the end of April. The plant needs a sunny, wind‑protected spot with loose, well‑drained soil. Water regularly but moderately: it dislikes standing water and can tolerate longer dry periods better than most other beans. Vining varieties such as ‘California Blackeye’ benefit from a trellis; bush types do not require support. Harvest pods young for cooking or allow them to mature on the plant if you wish to dry the seeds for storage.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMay–Jun
HarvestAug–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 15 °C, ideally 25 °C
- Days to sprout
- 5 to 10 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 3 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, humus-rich, nutrient-rich, sandy
The black-eyed pea likes loose, well-drained soil that warms up quickly in summer. It copes poorly with heavy, waterlogged soils, so on loamy ground it is worth adding a portion of sand or mature compost to loosen it. A moderately nutrient-rich, humus-rich soil is perfectly enough; too much nitrogen only encourages foliage instead of pods.
As a legume, the black-eyed pea leaves nitrogen-rich soil behind, which benefits heavy feeders in the following year. Grow it on the same plot again after four years at the earliest.
Feeding
Light feeder
As a legume, the black-eyed pea fixes nitrogen from the air itself via its root nodules and therefore needs hardly any feeding. A helping of compost at planting in spring is usually enough for the whole season. If you want to treat the soil to a little extra, work in some well-rotted manure or plant liquid feed shallowly; the undemanding plant needs nothing more.
Overwintering
The black-eyed pea is sensitive to frost and does not survive our winters outdoors. It is grown as an annual and cleared away in autumn after harvest. Store seed for the next season dry and cool until sowing in late spring.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
Propagation works only from seed, best sown directly in place once the soil is warm enough in May (weeks 19 to 20). The seeds germinate quickly at temperatures from 15 degrees and do not tolerate frost. If you want to start earlier, raise the plants on the windowsill from mid-April and plant them out after the Ice Saints (mid-May). Your own seed from ripe, dry pods keeps well for the following year.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
cabbage family (Brassicaceae)
particularly well establishedLeguminous plants collect nitrogen in the soil, from which Brassicaceae benefit as heavy feeders.
For example White cabbageKohlrabiRadishKalebroccolicauliflower and 41 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
carrot family (Apiaceae)
Peas and beans provide carrot and celery with nitrogen and grow as shallow-rooted plants without competition next to each other.
For example CarrotCeleriacDillParsleyFlorence fennelCoriander and 21 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
Rather not
amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae)
particularly well establishedAllium species inhibit the nitrogen‑fixing rhizobia of legumes through their root exudates, which slows their growth.
For example GarlicOnionLeekChivesWild daffodilRocambole and 12 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop‑rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Black-eyed pea yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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