How to Grow Groundnuts

The groundnut (Apios Americana) is the tuber of a native American vine. Used much like potatoes, groundnuts fed the American Indian and the pilgrims. Groundnut vines grow 6 to 12 feet in length and bear brick-red to pink flowers. Tubers and starter vines are available through native plant nurseries and online retailers. Tubers taste best when left in the ground for at least two growing seasons and harvested just after the first frost. Groundnuts are hardy in zones 3 through 9 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Garden fork
Shovel
Compost
Sand
Trellis or other support system

Instructions

- 1
  Amend the soil in a wide area of the garden. Groundnuts spread, so make sure they have plenty of good soil in which to do so. Loosen the soil to a depth of 10 inches to allow the roots to spread out.
- 2
  Remove the top 8 inches of soil in the bed, piling half of it alongside the hole and moving the other half to another part of the garden. Blend 2 inches of compost and 2 inches of sand into the soil pile and shovel it into the excavated area. Smooth the bed with the rake.
- 3
  Install a support for the vine, 6 inches away from where you will plant it. A trellis or post -- at least 7 feet in height -- is sufficient.
- 4
  Plant the groundnut tubers in 3-inch-deep holes and cover them with soil. Plant starter vines at the same depth at which they are growing in the nursery pot.
- 5
  Water the groundnut bed until it is moist to a depth of 6 inches, and keep the soil moist at all times.

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