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Chickpea

Cicer arietinum · legumes

At a glance

Spacing
15 cm6 in (sources disagree)
Days to maturity
90 (sources disagree)
Lifespan
Annual
On this page

Also called garbanzo bean.

No photo of this plant yet. We add one once we have a picture we can credit.

When do I plant this? › Plan this in your garden ›

The numbers

Sowing depth
2.5–5.1 cm1–2 in (sources disagree)
Spacing in row
15 cm6 in (sources disagree)
Mature height
38–76 cm15–30 in (sources disagree)
Mature spread
15 cm6 in (estimate)
Days to maturity
90 (sources disagree)
Feeding
Makes its own nitrogen
Lifespan
Annual
Habit
Bush
Fixes nitrogen
Yes

Before you sow

What the seed asks for before it will come up.

Days to germinate
10–15 days
The source

Calendario de siembra Chile Municipalidad de Peñaflor (host; no author on the page)

Numbers we’re less sure of

Many of our estimates come from an extension page we’ve read that gets close without pinning the number down. Others are still our own best guess, and on some the sources disagree. Treat them all as a starting point.

Rules that apply to chickpea

Do not plant legumes in ground that held legumes within 3 years; the root rots build where they repeat, and the worst of them outlast any garden rotation. Promising

Do not plant legumes in ground that held legumes within 3 years; the root rots build where they repeat, and the worst of them outlast any garden rotation.

Promising

If you skip this, you lose real yield. The planner warns you.

How it works: Bean and pea root rots (Fusarium solani, Rhizoctonia, Pythium, Aphanomyces) and white mold (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) survive in soil as spores and sclerotia and build where legumes follow legumes; a three-year break holds the common ones down. Fusarium needs longer, and Aphanomyces oospores and white mold's sclerotia persist for many years, so rotation reduces but cannot clear them.

Evidence: checked against 4 sources in the research-based literature.

The 4 sources

vegetables.cornell.edu

Do Rotations Matter within Disease Management Programs? Cornell Vegetables

We summarise this source in our notes rather than quote a line from it.

blog-fruit-vegetable-ipm.extension.umn.edu

Crop planning deep dive: Mind your Peas and Beans UMN Extension, Fruit and Vegetable News
Rotate away from legumes for more than 3 years

ipm.cahnr.uconn.edu

Molds and Mildews of Beans in Connecticut UConn IPM
Rotate away from susceptible crops for 7 years

ndsu.edu

Field Pea and Lentil Root Rot Risk, Diagnosis and Resources NDSU Agriculture
Fields with a long history of pulses in close rotations (every 2-3 years) are at greatest risk
Remedy

Plant legumes in different ground, or wait until 3 years have passed since this ground last held them. Where root rot has shown, make it longer, and keep the ground draining freely, because every one of these rots is worse in wet soil.

Read the full rule › · open in the planner ›

Cold-hardy annuals can be sown or transplanted before the last spring frost (hardy crops about three weeks before, half-hardy about two weeks before). Tender crops wait for the frost itself. Promising

Cold-hardy annuals can be sown or transplanted before the last spring frost (hardy crops about three weeks before, half-hardy about two weeks before). Tender crops wait for the frost itself.

Promising

If you skip this, it still grows, just less well. The planner suggests it.

How it works: Cold hardiness. Hardy crops tolerate hard frost and half-hardy crops tolerate light frost, so they can occupy the ground weeks before frost-tender crops are allowed in. The offset is measured from the last spring frost.

Evidence: checked against 2 sources in the research-based literature.

The 2 sources

extension.illinois.edu

Time Your Vegetable Plantings by Cold Hardiness University of Illinois Extension
… withstand freezing temperatures and hard frosts without injury

extension.colostate.edu

Vegetable Planting Guide Colorado State Univ. Extension, GardenNotes #720
As early as 2-4 weeks before the date of the average last spring frost

Plus 2 working notes on how the sources were read.

Read the full rule › · open in the planner ›

Beans, peas and other legumes only fix nitrogen with the right soil bacteria. Ground that hasn't grown their kind recently may have too few, so they fix less. Promising

Beans, peas and other legumes only fix nitrogen with the right soil bacteria. Ground that hasn't grown their kind recently may have too few, so they fix less.

Promising

If you skip this, it still grows, just less well. The planner suggests it.

How it works: Nitrogen fixation happens in root nodules formed by Rhizobium or Bradyrhizobium bacteria specific to each legume group. On ground that has not grown that legume group before (a new bed, a soil-less mix, a long gap in the rotation, a fumigated or strongly acid soil), the matching strain can be absent or sparse, so nodulation and fixation are reduced until a population builds.

Evidence: checked against 1 source in the research-based literature.

The source

extension.psu.edu

Inoculation of Forage and Grain Legumes Penn State Extension
Rhizobia bacteria are fairly specific as to which legumes they will infect, form nodules on the roots of, and for which they will fix nitrogen
Remedy

On first-time legume ground, coat the seed at sowing with the inoculant matched to the crop's group (garden peas and beans, soybean, and clover each take a different one). Ground that has grown that legume recently usually needs none. It is a cheap one-time step, advised where the history is absent and never required.

Read the full rule › · open in the planner ›

Another 133 rules depend on your own garden, like crop rotation, frost dates, sun, spacing and soil. See them all.

Plant teams that place it

Cite this page

Milpa Gardens. "Chickpea (Cicer arietinum)." https://milpa.garden/plants/cicer-arietinum/

A garden planner built on graded evidence. Every claim states its evidence grade and links its sources on the page. Cite it with the grade, and add the date you read it.

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