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Last edited by shiny on November 09, 2026. View history

Tarwi

Lupinus mutabilis
Also known as edible lupin (EN)

A variety of lupin bean

A large, flat, white-seeded edible lupin that is a staple food in South America, where it is called tarwi. Also makes excellent humus. Scatter sow in trays in spring once frost is past, and transplant at 20 cm when 5 cm high.

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Tarwi facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less
Optimal temperature 18–24 °C
Absolute temperature 6–30 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall 500–1000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 350–1700 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH 5–6.5
Absolute soil pH 4.5–7
FAO EcoCrop

Crop cycle

150–330 days
FAO EcoCrop

Max altitude

4000 m
FAO EcoCrop

Optimal light

very bright to clear skies
FAO EcoCrop
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 tarwi, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 6°C and a shortest growing cycle of 150 days at its best temperature, about 2250 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 tarwi 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.

Photos

Tarwi plantings

Tarwi
Tarwi
by cropbot

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Time to harvest

If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 150 to 330 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 Lupinus mutabilis Sweet

Family / Taxonomy Magnoliopsida
Rosidae
Fabales
Leguminosae
Killing temperature growth: -5 °C, rest: -5 °C
Life form herb
Life span annual
Habit erect
Optimal soil depth shallow (20-50 cm)
Optimal soil texture medium, light
Optimal soil fertility moderate
Optimal soil drainage well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)
Photoperiod short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours)

Learn more about tarwis

Resources outside Growstuff.