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After pollination and the withering of the flower, an unusual stalklike structure called a peg grows from the base of the flower toward the soil. Peanuts are sold boiled or roasted and are commonly used to produce an edible oil with a high smoke point. This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello. Learn tips for creating your most beautiful home and garden ever. Nadia Hassani is a a Penn State Master Gardener with nearly 20 years of experience in landscaping, garden design, and vegetable and fruit gardening.

Sonya Harris is an award-winning gardening expert with two decades of experience teaching and sharing her extensive knowledge about small space gardening. She is a Master Gardener and founder of the award-winning Bullock Garden Project in New Jersey. South Jersey Magazine’s One to Watch Award, and is also a member of The Spruce Gardening and Plant Care Review Board. Sonya has written for Martha Stewart Living’s site, won South Jersey Magazine’s One to Watch Award, and is also a member of The Spruce Gardening and Plant Care Review Board. Peanuts have a long growing season and are most often grown in warmer climates, but you can try your hand at growing them indoors.

This occurs after the last frost, sometimes in April through May, when soil temps have reached 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Planting depth is about 2 inches deep, 1 to 2 inches apart, in rows that will facilitate harvesting. Seeds sprout and send shoots up out of the soil about 10 days after planting. When plants are about 18 inches high, they produce flowers. This occurs about 40 days after planting.

From the flower’s ovary, the plant sends down a fruiting “peg” which will penetrate the soil, then turn sideways to begin its transformation into a pod with seeds inside. Within four to five months of planting, each individual plant may “peg” as many as 40 pods. About 140 to 150 days after planting, the plants are dug up entirely from the ground, stems along with the underground seed pods. Commercially, this is done by large machines known as “combines. If you live in an area where summers are long and warm with at least 120 to 150 frost-free days, you are in the right location to grow peanuts. For this reason, peanut plants are most productive in USDA hardiness zones 8-11.

Once seeds go in the ground, keeping the area around the peanut plants weed-free and loose is very important to produce healthy pegs. After the plant has flowered and has been pollinated, it will start sending pegs into the soil. After the pegs have entered the soil, do not disturb them. You might see lots of flowers on the plants but only 15 percent of them will actually send a peg into the soil and grow peanuts. Peanuts need full sun for at least eight hours per day. Peanuts grow best in loose, well-drained, sandy loam with a slightly acidic soil with a pH range of 6. Avoid poorly drained and hard clay soil.

Peanuts need about 1 inch of rain or irrigation per week during the growing season. Watering is most critical immediately after planting, to ensure germination and establishment of the seedlings, then again 60 to 110 days after planting when the pegs have entered the soil and are filling with peanut clusters. When watering, avoid wetting the leaves and use drip irrigation if possible. The soil should be moist but not saturated. The ideal growing temperature for peanuts is between 86 and 93 degrees Fahrenheit.