Last edited by shiny on November 08, 2026. View history
Lentils
Lentils
How to sow lentils: Direct seed outdoors, thin seedlings to 4-5cm
Sun requirement for lentils: Plant in Full Sun
Lentils are a bushy annual plant in the Legume family that produce edible, lens-shaped seeds that are high in protein. The seeds grow in pods, and there are usually two seeds per pod. Lentil plants are semi-erect and resemble vetch plants or more feathery bean plants. Flowers can be white, lilac or pale blue in color. Seeds benefit from inoculation with Rhizobium leguminosarum bacteria just before sowing, as this bacteria helps the roots absorb nitrogen. Lentils can be grown as sprouts or microgreens, like snap beans, or as dried seeds. Plants will mature and be ready to harvest as dried seeds about 110 days after sowing. There are many varieties of lentils and the seed colors range from yellow to red-orange to green, brown, or black. The plants prefer cool growing conditions and are relatively drought-tolerant.
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Lentils facts
Lifespan
Height
40cmRow Spacing
2cmCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For lentils, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 70 days at its best temperature, about 1190 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your lentils will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
How members grow lentils
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Lentils plantings
Where lentils grow
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 70 to 240 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Lens culinaris Medikus
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Fabales Leguminosae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | heavy, medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about lentils
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