Lens culinaris
lentil
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 5 cm, rows 20 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Apr–May
- Harvest
- Aug–Sep
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below −4 °C
- Water need
- Low
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The lentil is one of the oldest cultivated plants and is experiencing a comeback on the Swabian Alb as the "Alblinse". The low, delicate plants bear tiny pods each containing one or two flat seeds. Traditionally it is grown in a mix with oats or barley, which provide support.
Care instructions
Sow from April to May in thin layers in lean, calcareous, well‑drained soils, fat soil only promotes the foliage. Grow it best together with some oats or barley as a support crop to avoid ground storage. Water sparingly and harvest in late summer when the lower pods start to rattle, then dry the whole plant.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–May
HarvestAug–Sep
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 8 °C, ideally 18 °C
- Days to sprout
- 7 to 14 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
sandy, loamy, well-drained, lime-loving, lean
Lentils need loose, deep, free-draining soil without waterlogging. Sandy to loamy with a good lime content is ideal. They thrive particularly well on lean, poor sites, while they do not tolerate heavy, compacted clay soils with a waterlogged layer.
Legumes collect nitrogen via nodule bacteria and are an ideal preceding crop for heavy feeders; they themselves need a break of about 4 years in the same place.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Oct–Nov
As a legume, the lentil supplies itself with nitrogen through its nodule bacteria and needs no nitrogen feeding. Fresh manure or nitrogen-rich applications would even slow the symbiosis. If anything, in autumn before sowing you work in a little well-rotted compost shallowly to give slight support to the phosphorus and potassium supply.
Overwintering
The lentil is an annual and dies after the seeds ripen. There is nothing to overwinter. Harvest the ripe pods before they burst, dry the seeds thoroughly in an airy place and store them dry and cool as seed, which you sow again in spring from the end of April.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate lentils exclusively by direct sowing in the bed. Sow from the end of March to early May, as soon as the soil has warmed to at least 4 to 5 °C. Young lentils are slightly frost-hardy and tolerate short night frosts down to about -3 °C. Place the seeds 3 to 5 cm deep in loose, well-drained, rather lime-rich soil; nutrient-rich soils are rather detrimental to lentils. Keep a row spacing of 20 to 30 cm and set one seed every 5 to 10 cm. For seed saving, you leave individual strong pods to ripen fully brown and dry on the plant; the pods ripen from the bottom upwards. Afterwards you shell the seeds and dry them for another two weeks or so in an airy place. Dry culinary lentils from the shop often germinate too, provided they have not been heated. However, seed from your own ripe harvest is more reliable. As a legume, the lentil fixes atmospheric nitrogen via nodule bacteria; so do not grow it after other legumes, but after cereals or brassicas, and keep a cropping break of 4 to 6 years at the same site.
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 CarrotDillParsleyFlorence fennelCorianderCelery (Stalk Celery) and 20 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 ChivesWild daffodilRocamboleElephant garlicRed OnionShallot and 9 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 lentil yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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