Growing peanuts

[Primrose]

When I was a kid I seem to remember at school that we used to grow peanuts in shells in pots in our nature class. Do they need special growing conditions? I ask because we have several squirrels who daily raid our peanut cages and bury the nuts in the soil but I never see anything sprouting from them. I'm surprised we don't have a peanut forest sprouting in our back lawn.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Primrose, i know they will grow in a cold-frame, because a couple of years ago i stacked a lot of pots in a earth bottomed cold frame, in the spring there were loads of peanut seedlings growing in there, i should think a mouse had taken them in there and hid them under the pots.

[Primrose]

Dear OH - Interesting that they should have germinated at low temperatures during the winter. I was under the impression they were a hot climate plant. (Wasn't there a ground nut (peanut) scheme in Africa years ago that turned out to be a big scandal because it cost millions and produced nothing?

[Diane]

I've grown peanuts - on a warm windowsill - and they turn into very pretty pot plants. Plant in the spring for best results.

I grew mine from a packet of monkey nuts, in the shell, from the supermarket. I just removed the shell and planted in multi-purpose compost.

[Wellie]

Primrose,

Allan Day posted up a thread recently to do with a book he's got that deals with growing 'the unusual'.
You could PM him about it if he doesn't hook into your own thread here?

I know the bloke I used to get my garlic from (before Piglet) potted up a few peanut seedlings that had emerged underneath the bird feeder at his small garden centre, so I think OH is perfectly right in his assumption.
I'd like to try too as a matter of fact. It'd be fun.