It is difficult to find a summer resident who does not grow legumes: peas or beans. Vigna vegetable is a worthy representative of this family. One of the most productive varieties of culture is "Countess", this is how experienced gardeners speak about it. A climbing liana in the open field will not only bear fruit abundantly, but also decorate your site. Long stems are fixed on vertical supports, the planting grows quickly and a solid green wall is obtained (pictured). If you provide the vine with proper care, you can get a lot of juicy and healthy scoops.
What kind of plant is this?
Vigna vegetable - herbaceous flowering plant... Belongs to the legume family. Homeland - Central Africa.
Subsequent varieties were bred in China, India. The genus is named after Domenico Vigny (Italian botanist, director of the Botanical Garden in Pisa).
The plant is known all over the world under the name "cowpea". It grows as a bush or semi-bush, but more often develops as a climbing culture. This bush bean belongs to the versatile asparagus variety, which is suitable for preparing various dishes.
Interesting facts about vegetable cowpea:
- Among the available two hundred varieties of cowpea, there are varieties with the aroma of mushrooms: Ad Rem, Akito. They are so unpretentious in care that even with the most unfavorable seasons for the harvest, they actively bear fruit.
- Studies have determined that people in the UK eat cowpeas as much as people in other countries combined. Maybe that's why the British are so restrained, because asparagus beans perfectly calm the nervous system.
- From the Greek language, the name of the bean sounds like "phaseolus", which means a long narrow boat, to which a healthy vegetable is very similar.
Description
Chinese asparagus or green beans have a growing season of 100 to 125 days. with proper cultivation, up to 3 kg of beans can be harvested from one plant... Young pods are juicy, tender and tasty.
Description of the cowpea:
- Appearance and structure... The height of the stems reaches 5 m, and the shoulder blades grow up to 1 m. Leaves and pods are dark green. One stem is covered with white or purple flowers - the shade and number of inflorescences depends on the variety.
The fruits are slightly larger in shape than a wheat grain, and their color is either black or beige. The structure of the cowpea is similar to common asparagus. - Taste qualities... Bean fruit tastes good. After heat treatment, they acquire a sweetish aroma.
Salads, hot dishes acquire a magical smell, incredible benefits for the human body. - Benefit and harm... Beans contain starch, protein, iron, mineral salts, calcium, vitamins C, B, A. Improves the liver, urinary system, digestion, gallbladder. Recommended for people suffering from gout, diabetes and rheumatism.
Vigna does not cause significant harm to the human body, but it has some disadvantages.
Attention! Experts recommend using cooked beans. Allergy sufferers should consult a doctor before using asparagus for food.
Vigna vegetable: recipes
Vegetable salad with cowpea
Young pods should be cut into small cubes, boiled in salted water until soft. Combine with pre-boiled and chopped eggs, potatoes and carrots. The amount of cowpea in a salad should be at least half of its total volume. You can use vegetable oil, sour cream or mayonnaise as a dressing.
Light cowpea soup
Chop 300 grams of vegetable cowpea pods. Fry the parsley root and onion separately, combined with a little flour. Boil the ingredients in salted water until the asparagus beans soften, adding 200 grams of tomatoes and fresh herbs.
Vegetable vigna with eggs
It is required to boil the chopped vegetable cowpea pods, put in a frying pan, add eggs beaten with sour cream there. Bake in the oven.
Georgian lobio with cowpea
Boil for five minutes vegetable cowpea, pre-cut into small pieces. Fry. Remove the skin from the tomatoes previously treated with boiling water. Combine with onions, beans and the liquid in which the latter was boiled. Extinguish. During cooking add onion, garlic, pepper, salt to taste. Lobio can be used both as a side dish for meat, and as an independent dish.
Chinese vegetable vigna
Cut 300 grams of asparagus beans into small cubes, boil in salted water for about five minutes. Strain, dry, fry in vegetable oil, adding a clove of chopped garlic, a tablespoon of sour cream and a teaspoon of flour diluted in 100 ml of water. Simmer for 5-7 minutes under the lid. The dish is ready.
The best varieties
Asparagus Vigna beans love warm climates... Gardeners and gardeners from Siberia, the Urals, the Volga region should choose seeds of varieties of domestic producers. Russian breeders were able to develop unique varieties of this culture that take root well in central Russia. They are also suitable for planting in open ground and in greenhouses. Here are the best varieties of asparagus beans for the middle lane, including the Moscow region.
Oriental delicacy
It is a mid-season variety with a growing season of 75-85 days. The stems grow in height from 3 to 3.5 m, therefore they require support. Pods are 20-25 cm long, flat-rounded, slightly curved, yellow. Seeds are white, elongated, kidney-shaped. Fresh fruits are used in the preparation of first courses and side dishes, baked and stewed.
Lillian
A mid-season variety with a growing season of 80-85 days. The stems grow up to 3.5 m and require special support. Light green beans have a sweet crunchy texture, rough surface... Used in food preparation and canning.
Sorceress
A high-yielding variety with a growing season of 55-60 days. It is planted only in greenhouses. The plants are vigorous and vigorous. The beans are green, fleshy, 60 cm long. They are used boiled, fried and canned. Dry scoops are suitable for brewing tea. The drink stabilizes blood sugar levels, heart function.
Kalancha
Early ripening variety with a growing season of 55-60 days. It is planted only in greenhouses. Stems grow up to 3, 8 m, curly, require support. Beans straight, narrow, green, very tender, 65 cm long... They are eaten unripe, boiled and fried.
Fakir
An early ripe variety with a growing season of 50-55 days. It is planted in greenhouses. The stems reach a height of 3 m. The beans are green, soft, from 30 to 50 cm long. Differs in good immunity, high yield.
Vegetable chucha
A high-yield crop, the technical ripeness of which occurs 55-60 days after sowing in a greenhouse. The beans are green, fleshy, straight with a beak, 60 cm long. Requires support and mineral fertilizers.
Ludmila
An annual plant with a growing season of 97-121 days. The stems twist and reach a height of 2.5 m.The beans are light green, fleshy, without fibers, long - 60-80 cm. Eaten unripe, fried or boiled.
Curly varieties are used as vertical gardening for gazebos, summer cottages. An interesting culture during the flowering period is especially beautiful and vibrant.
Care, feeding
Neither beans nor cowpea do not like to grow on heavy, acidic and waterlogged soils. The best predecessors for its cultivation are cucumbers, cabbage and representatives of the nightshade family: tomato, potato, vegetable pepper, eggplant. The planting site needs to be changed due to the sharp depletion of the soil. Re-plant in the same place, preferably after 3-4 years. In the fall, the future bed for cowpea needs to be dug up, humus or light compost should be added, superphosphate should be added.
Organic food suitable for growing are:
- ash;
- dolomite flour.
Caring for cowpea is usual: weeding, watering, loosening row spacings. It is not necessary to water much, which the plant does not like, but enough so that the ovaries do not fall off. During one of the waterings, you can feed the plant with a solution of 1:20 mullein or urea (1 tablespoon per bucket of water).
Vigna is a powerful and tall plant, therefore it needs good nutrition. It is useful to apply complex fertilizer before planting in the ground. When buds appear, you can help cowpea with mineral feeding. Trace elements will help the plant in this way:
- boron is responsible for the formation of beans and seeds;
- cobalt helps fix atmospheric nitrogen;
- manganese helps to assimilate nitrogen;
- molybdenum fights against the violation of the synthesis of protein substances.
Advice! Vigne, like all legumes, is contraindicated for manure and aggressive compost. The plant itself produces nitrogen by nodules on the root branches.
How to grow seedlings from seeds at home?
Vigna is a thermophilic culture, so it is better to grow it through seedlings. Here are the answers to the question of how to plant the seeds correctly.
- What capacity and soil to choose? It is recommended to grow seedlings in peat pots. The soil should be loose, nutritious and breathable.
- How to prepare the soil? Pour peat, ordinary earth, humus in equal amounts into the container, and add 0.5 parts of washed sand to the mixture. Mix everything, fill the pots about 3/4 of the volume, compact.
- How to prepare seeds? Process the planting material in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes. Then rinse well. Place the seeds in a damp cloth and keep in this form for 5-6 days at a temperature of + 25 ° C, rinsing every day under a stream of warm water. When sprouts appear, move the seeds to the pots (2-3 beans per container). Cover with glass.
- How to care for seedlings? Timely care will allow you to get strong plants. This requires:
- Until the first sunrises, keep containers in a warm, dry place at a temperature of + 25 ° C. Moisten the soil every day, but do not overflow.
When the sunrises appear, the temperature should be reduced to +18 - + 20 ° С and the glass should be removed.
- When the first pair of true leaves appears, carefully cut out the extra seedlings with scissors, while only strong plants should remain.
- Watering should be done evenly, avoiding stagnation of water.
- Apply mineral fertilizers once every 2 weeks. The best dressing is Agricola, Fertika. Apply them strictly according to the instructions.
Attention! With an illiterate approach to seed germination, it is impossible to get healthy shoots. In most cases, the planting material does not sprout at all, but simply dies.
Landing in open ground
The most favorable conditions for planting beans in open ground are mid-June, when the soil warms up to + 15 ° C.
If the roots did not have time to germinate through the pot, then carefully remove the upper part of the container... If the roots have sprouted through the walls, then planting seedlings in open ground can be done together with a pot.
How to prepare the soil?
Vigna develops very quickly, therefore it requires very fertile land.
- Before planting, rotted manure or compost should be added to the soil at the rate of 2-3 kg of fertilizer per 1 sq. m of land.
- Additionally add 30 g of superphosphate and 20 g of potassium fertilizer. Dig up the soil with a bayonet in depth and go to planting seedlings.
Step-by-step algorithm of actions
- Dig holes 30 cm apart. The distance between the ridges should be 45 cm.
- During planting, it is necessary to ensure that the root collar remains on the surface.
- It is good to water and mulch the plantings with peat. Cover with plastic.
Outdoor cultivation and care
- When the weather becomes stable and warms up to +20 - + 25 ° С, the covering matter should be removed.
- Place supports near each plant.
- Feed the culture with mineral fertilizers and liquid fermented mullein once a week.
- The soil must be loose and moist, but without stagnant water.
Pests
Vigna beans - a plant with excellent immunity... She is not affected by diseases that are found in other cultural representatives of legumes. But fresh and fleshy pods are attacked by two types of insects:
- Slugs... They are carriers of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases. Through beans, they can infect humans and animals with helminths. Slugs safely devour leaves, fruits, stems, thereby causing significant damage. Prevention - cleaning the beds from various weeds. Control methods - collecting individuals by hand, traps in the form of a cloth dipped in beer.
- Aphid... Small green insects eat everything in their path. They appear from neighboring plants, trees and shrubs. You can notice the special housekeeping by the twisted bean leaves, green sticky paths on the greenery, a huge number of ants. You can get rid of aphids with insecticides.
Important! Use the drugs strictly according to the instructions. It is best to plant herbs with a spicy aroma around the beans. They will scare away pests. Experienced gardeners plant cowpea next to crops where there is an abundance of ladybirds, spiders and wasps. These insects hunt aphids, and without knowing it, they help a person.
Vigna vegetable Countess: cultivation, reviews
The cowpea variety Countess is drought-resistant and does not require careful maintenance. It is important to feed the plant in a timely manner, water it during the dry period and loosen the soil during the fruiting period.
According to the reviews of experienced gardeners, in the process of growing cowpea, the green mass is actively growing. Therefore, the garden culture must be provided with a good, stable support. The carrier wire should be approximately 3 meters high. You should also take into account the high windage of asparagus beans and plant them on the leeward side.
Collection and storage of fruits
It is recommended to harvest the fruit 10 days after pod formation. Remove beans every 3 days to keep them from overripe.
Beans are eaten in any form, except raw... To eat healthy and juicy beans all winter, you should freeze them. Don't worry, beans will not lose their beneficial properties after defrosting.
We offer you to watch an overview video about cowpea beans:
Vigna beans are a plant with high nutritional and medicinal properties. Taking into account the recommendations and advice will help you get a rich and juicy harvest. Culture also has a decorative function: it decorates gazebos, balconies or terraces.
