Lentils are a surprisingly valuable plant from a large legume family . She is well known in our country, she is popular abroad. How lentils grow, what are the features of its cultivation, read the article.
Culture Description
Lentils are an annual herbaceous plant whose height reaches sixty centimeters. The bush is not large. Its stems have a tetrahedral shape and a reddish tint. They are erect or lodging, depending on the variety. Throughout the entire length, the stems are covered with hairs of small size and medium stiffness.
Lentils have complex leaves with a pinnate structure. The petiole at the base has an antenna, which is branched or simple. The size and shape of stipules are different in different varieties of lentils. Short peduncles have one or several small flowers, in shape resembling moths. Most often, the petals are painted white, but there are blue-blue or violet-blue.
The growing season varies depending on the variety, weather conditions and soil. Its duration can be from two and a half months to four. Until the onset of flowering, which falls at the end of May - beginning of June, it has been growing slowly. When the first flowers appear (six weeks after germination), the growth and branching of the bush is accelerated.
Fetal characteristic
This is a bean ripening in one nest with two wings. It is elongated, has a diamond shape and a tendency to crack when overripe. Few fruits, from one to three pieces. They have a rounded or oblate shape and small size, up to two centimeters in length.
Fruits are yellow, red, green, pink, brown, gray, black, with a marble dotted or spotted pattern.
Lentils in Russia
In our country, this culture was known for a long time, five hundred years ago. In those days, the cultivation of lentils in Russia was carried out on the Russian plain. As a grain crop, it was of high value. Where does lentil grow in Russia? In the last century, the place of its growth in our country was the chernozem regions of the Volga and Urals. Lentils grew in the North Caucasus and Ukraine.
It was called crane pea, nomad, vichka, lyashta. Lentils were used for baking bread, making porridge and soup. They made sausage and sweets from it. Currently, lentils in Russia are growing in the Volga region, the Central Black Earth regions of the country, in small areas of Tatarstan, Mordovia, Chuvashia, and the western regions of Siberia.
Growing Features
Legume will show all its best qualities when observing the following features of growing lentils:
- For plant growth, fruit formation and high yields, an important feature should be considered. The conditions for growing lentils are such that they need a lot of light for normal growth for a long time. A daylight duration of even ten hours will not satisfy her needs. The plant will be frail, the fruits will not ripen, the yield will decrease.
- Another feature is the provision of plants with moisture and heat from the beginning of the growing season. Later, lentils calmly withstand drought.
- Seeds can germinate in soil heated to only five to six degrees heat. This temperature is considered low.
- Where does lentil grow? The culture cannot be grown on compacted soils with low fertility.
- How does lentil grow? Immediately after planting, lentils grow slowly. She very painfully tolerates the presence of weeds in the neighborhood. Therefore, during this period, beds should be carefully weeded.
- On the the roots accumulate nitrogen, which makes the soil more fertile. For this reason, legumes in general, and lentils in particular, are of interest to agriculture.
- Fruits can be eaten unripe, they are even tastier.
The soil
Where does lentil grow? She prefers sandy soils or loamy loose soils. In the absence of such a soil environment, heavy soils are used, obviously counting on a low yield. If the soil is highly acidified, lime should be added to them or plants should be planted in areas previously defined as corn, winter crops or potatoes. Light soils with sufficient moisture are considered ideal. Lentils do not grow well on soils with high acidity and waterlogging.
What fertilizer to apply?
Many carry lentils in the country. After choosing a landing site, you need to fertilize the soil so that the beans grow well and give a high yield. How does lentil grow? For normal growth in the spring before planting and in the fall during digging, the soil must be fertilized to increase its fertility. Complex fertilizers with phosphorus and potassium content are ideal. Fifty grams is enough per square meter.
You can make other fertilizers. How does lentil grow? There will be good growth and a high yield if, during the digging of the bed in the fall, superphosphate and potassium salt are added in the amount of 20-50 grams and 10-30 grams, respectively. In spring, the soil is enriched with ammonium nitrate: 10-30 grams per square meter.
Sowing seeds
Bean planting begins early, because it is important that the accumulated moisture is preserved in the soil, otherwise the plants will sprout late. Narrow rows are made in the prepared soil, twenty centimeters from one another. Crops of lentils are always dense. Seeds are buried in the soil shallowly, three to five centimeters is enough. They are small in size. Although there are several in the pod, the seeds are sown individually, each at a distance of ten to fifteen centimeters from each other. The deep layers of the soil, at the level of sowing seeds, should warm up to a temperature of three to four degrees heat. So that the seedlings are friendly, the seedlings covered with soil roll up for closer contact with the ground.
Care
The technology for growing lentils involves many agricultural activities, one of which is care. This bean crop is an unpretentious plant. As lentils grow, the photo is clearly visible. She calmly tolerates drought and slight frosts. But in the first six months after planting, you need to regularly (daily) water the soil to prevent it from drying out.
Moisture is needed for the growth of the whole plant, but during this period, especially for the roots. When they get stronger and gain strength, watering is reduced to two to three times a week. If there are a lot of weeds on the bed, they should be weeded in the aisles and bushes, otherwise they will drown the lentils, and it can die.
Harvest
Bean ripening occurs unevenly: the lower pods ripen earlier than the upper ones. For this reason, they are harvested in two stages: the first - when all the beans ripen, except those that grow in the upper part of the stem, the second - the final harvest with the beans fully ripened throughout the plant. The fruits are of good quality - do not crack.
Many farmers mistakenly believe that harvesting can wait. This is the wrong opinion. With late harvesting, the fruits retain their appearance, but lose their useful qualities. The green color of the beans indicates the high quality of lentils, and in overripe fruits it changes to a brown hue.
How to germinate lentils?
This process is simple. First you need to pour the beans with boiling water. This will stimulate growth. Then fill with water for a period of eight to fourteen hours. After this time, the beans are washed and placed on a moistened tissue. Top covered with several layers of gauze and placed in a dark place. It should be the warmest in the room. Every day, lentils are washed twice. Sprouts will sprout very quickly. When their length is one or two centimeters, you can use it. Germinated beans should be stored in the refrigerator for five days, no more.
Healing properties
Lentils have long been used for medicinal purposes. It has the following healing properties:
- Growing in any conditions, lentils are distinguished by the absence of nitrates, radionuclides and other toxic substances, it has the ability not to accumulate them.
- Its fruits help strengthen the heart muscle, normalize the process of blood formation.
- Eating lentils regularly lowers blood sugar. It is recommended to include in the diet for people with diabetes.
- With a stomach ulcer and colitis, the patient is prescribed a special diet, which includes first and second courses based on lentils.
- In its composition, even after processing with high temperatures, important substances remain - isoflavones that support women's health. They resist breast cancer cells, prevent tumors from spreading.
- People who use lentils are less susceptible to cardiovascular disease and hypertension.
Nutritional value
The nutritional and healing qualities of lentils have long been appreciated in Europe, from where it has spread to the eastern regions, where it is becoming increasingly popular. The nutritional value of legumes is as follows:
- Lentils are adapted to the perception of the human body. It is well digested and absorbed. Complex proteins and carbohydrates in lentils saturate the body, hunger for a long time disappears, although one hundred grams of the product contains less than three hundred kilocalories.
- Due to the high content of proteins that are easily digested, beans replace meat. This is especially important for diets. A small portion of beans per day can satisfy a person’s need for such a valuable substance as folic acid.
- There is little fat in lentils; one gram of it is needed per one hundred grams of product. Such an amount of fat will not increase body weight, but a feeling of satiety, health and beauty will provide.
- Lentils are distinguished by the content of almost all the chemical elements of the periodic table, it contains vitamins of different groups. It is believed that only chocolate contains serotonin. This is not true. In large quantities, the composition of lentils includes the amino acid tryptophan. In the body, it is converted to serotonin, which is called the "vitamin of happiness." And rightfully so: the psyche becomes more stable, a person has endurance in stressful situations, depressive states decrease over periods.
Lentil Harm
Undoubtedly, beans have a lot of useful nutritional and healing properties. But they also have disadvantages. You should abandon dishes from lentils to people suffering from diseases such as gout, uric acid diathesis, impaired functioning of blood vessels and heart, diseases of the joints and genitourinary system, overweight.
Diseases and Pests
Lentils, like many other plants, are susceptible to pests and diseases. Beans are a breeding ground for lentil kernels, scoops and a meadow moth. The plant has a weak immunity. It is sick with fusarium, ascochitosis and rust.
Useful Tips
For those who grow vegetables, including lentils, any good advice will do good.
- During sowing seeds have to move around the bed. In order not to leave deep traces on the soil, you can use boards. They are laid right on the ground. They not only protect loose soil, but also trample it evenly, providing close contact with seeds.
- The fruits for better germination are soaked for two days in a specially prepared solution. Several pebbles of silicon are placed in a glass of water and insisted for about two weeks.
- So that the collected beans are quickly cleaned, the pods are dried in the sun, put in a bag and rolled. The fruits are instantly released from the pods.
Application
Lentils are used in the food industry. Concentrates of mashed potatoes and soups are made from it. Beans are cooked first courses, cereals, salads are prepared, stewed, consumed in combination with mint and other seasonings. Fruit sprouts rich in folic acid are especially valued.