Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

General information and discussion about cultivating beans, peas, peanuts, clover and vetch.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old February 7, 2017   #1
wmontanez
Tomatovillian™
 
wmontanez's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: MA
Posts: 776
Default Lablab purpureus-Chicharos

Has anyone grown these legumes? I got some feral seeds from the caribbean that are adapted to both excessive rain and drought periods. They call them Chicharos over there and are white flower vines with green pods, seeds are light brown when dry.
__________________
Wendy

Last edited by wmontanez; February 7, 2017 at 02:27 PM. Reason: typo
wmontanez is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 7, 2017   #2
Labradors2
Tomatovillian™
 
Labradors2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,886
Default

Hmmm. I wonder why I remember the name?

It's odd that something named "purpureus" would have white flowers, but according to Wikepedia, they sometimes do.

The one that I saw (and liked) had purple flowers, but I heard that they can be poisonous, so why would I grow a bean that I cannot eat - except for the name.

They can be perennial in certain climates, so that would be a plus for an ornamental bean.

Linda
Labradors2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 7, 2017   #3
wmontanez
Tomatovillian™
 
wmontanez's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: MA
Posts: 776
Default

Linda,

I read online too that they is a purple flower variety called Hyacinth Bean.
Those I mention above with white flowers are edible, as far as I know not poisonous. My family has been eating them for years, I am still here. My mom boils them after removing the husk around the chicharos, the vines are irritant to the skin so its best to pick them with gloves. Wildlife leaves them alone. They tend to be invasive in the Caribbean and yes perennial. My family only plant 1-2 plants and mix them with other legumes like black eye peas, pigeon peas and pole beans.
__________________
Wendy
wmontanez is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 7, 2017   #4
Labradors2
Tomatovillian™
 
Labradors2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,886
Default

Sounds great Wendy, and a little different from the inevitable pole and runner beans

Linda
Labradors2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 7, 2017   #5
PhilaGardener
Tomatovillian™
 
PhilaGardener's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Near Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 1,940
Default

I've grown them (the purple form of the species) but for interest and color, not food. Vigorous plants. The seeds are really neat in appearance.

They are cultivated as food in Africa but because of the toxic glycosides one has to know what one is doing. And the best source of information, always, is Mom
PhilaGardener is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 7, 2017   #6
Zeedman
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 313
Default

In years past, I've grown several climbing cultivars of hyacinth bean, with purple pods, and green pods (the purple was my favorite for pods). Most cultivars brought from the tropics are day length sensitive, and will not bloom until day length approaches 12 hours... which in my climate, is only a couple weeks before frost. You would probably need a very long season to get mature seed from the Caribbean cultivar.

I've been told that some hyacinth bean varieties are grown for their seeds, and some for their immature pods. The seeds are eaten by many cultures, but must be prepared properly to remove their toxicity. Which is actually not that unusual for beans... the seeds of limas, runner beans, and common beans are also toxic to varying degrees when raw, and must be cooked to be eaten.

There are some bush hyacinth beans which were recently bred in India, with white flowers. At least one of those is day-neutral; it bloomed here 30 days after planting, during the long days of July.
Zeedman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 10, 2017   #7
wmontanez
Tomatovillian™
 
wmontanez's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: MA
Posts: 776
Default

thanks for sharing your experience
__________________
Wendy
wmontanez is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:15 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★