This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.
🐝🦋 Popular pollinator attractor
▷ IDENTIFICATION🔍
Common Name: Lentil
Botanical Name: Lens culinaris
Family: Pea family (Fabaceae)
Herbaceous annual for Zones 3 to 9
PRECAUTION: Not appropriate for all, consider consulting a doctor first. See section “ADDITIONAL INFORMATION > Animal Toxicity and Medicine Interactions”.
▷ OTHER NAMES & LOOKALIKES 🏷️
Other Names 🏷️
◦ Dal (Hindi)
Lookalikes 🔎
◦ Grass Peas (Lathyrus sativus): Finely divided leaves and blue flowers with large, angular, grey-green seeds that look like lentils. Grass peas may be cooked like dry peas. Edible in small quantities, large amounts are toxic over time.
◦ Split Peas (Pisum sativum): Peas that have been dried, split in half, and have had their outer skin removed.
▷ APPEARANCE 🪞
Plant Description🌿🗒️
Short legume plant with dense, branching stems. Leaves are green, compound with 4 to 10 pairs of oblong leaflets. Each leaflet is ½” to 1½” length with 2 stipules at the base of the stem. Flowers are small, ½” length, purple or white. Mature flowers create flat, smooth, oblong pods, ½” to ¾” length that contain 2 to 3 small, disc-shaped seeds that are tan, red, yellow, green, or black.
Dimensions, Root Depth, and Spacing 📏↔️
Height: 12″ to 30″
Width: 10″
Root Depth: 6″ to 12″ deep
Spacing: 4″ to 6″ apart
Flower Season and Fruit or Seed 🌻🍎🫘
Flower: Small, purple or white, from Summer to Fall
Seed: Small, disc-shaped, tan, red, yellow, green, or black
▷ REPRODUCTION🌱
Sexuality: Hermaphroditic
Pollination: Self pollinating; Bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators increase the quantity of legumes produced.
Growth Rate: Fast
Propagation:
◦ Cuttings: Not applicable
Seed Germination: Soil pH 6.0 to 6.8 at preferably 65°F to 75°F, kept moist, however not wet or dry. Plant seeds 1″ to 2″ deep, emerges 7 to 10 days after being sown. Germination rate of 80% (depending on producer).
Outdoor Planting: Plant seeds April to May; Seeds may also be planted in October in tropical environments.
▷ REQUIREMENTS❤️
Sunlight, Water, Fertilizer, and Pruning ☀️💧✂️
Sunlight: Prefers 6 to 8 hours of full sun
Note: Avoid aerial watering, which encourages fungal growth and disease.
Outdoor Watering: Water regularly during Summer (every 1 to 2 days) and less frequently in the Winter (2 to 4 days). Avoid overwatering and creating wet soil, which could cause root rot.
Indoor Watering: Not suggested for indoor planting
Drought Resistance: Moderate drought tolerance once established
Fertilizer: At the start of the growing season, apply fertilizer every 4 weeks to 6 weeks. Scatter evenly at the base of plants, avoiding clumps of fertilizer and preventing contact with stalk or and stems. Large clumps of fertilizer won’t evenly supplement nutrients into the entire soil surface after it mixes with water from rain or irrigation. Fertilizer clumps around the base of plants may cause the main stalk to rot or have contact burns, which could damage or kill the plant. Do not throw fertilizer over plant tops, as the clumps of fertilizer caught in between leaf nodes and on foliage may either burn or rot the foliage.
Pruning: Not suggested unless plants are overcrowded, shortening stems increases circulation with foliage that is too dense. Avoid pruning during Winter as it may kill the plant. This same rule applies for the Fall in northern climates. Remove withered flowers, dead leaves, and leggy stems to enhance plant’s appearance. This also promotes new stems to appear with more leaves and flowers.
Soil, Planting, and Environment 🌄🏞️🏜️
Soil: Well drained, rich loam, kept consistently moist
pH: 6.0 to 6.8
Habitat: Native to the Mediterranean.
Temperature Preference and Temperature Tolerance🌡️
Temperature: 60°F to 80°F
Heat Tolerance: 86°F; Drought tolerant once established
Cold Tolerance: 21°F; Frost tolerant
Salt, Wind, and Pollution Tolerance 🧂💨 ☣️
Salt Tolerance: Not tolerant to low tolerance (depends on variety)
Wind Tolerance: Moderate tolerance
Pollution Tolerance: Low to moderate tolerance
▷ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION📚
Description 📝
Lentil plants are bushes that are grown for their edible legumes, an excellent source of protein, amino acids, fiber, vitamins, nutrients, and minerals to improve and support health.
Attract and Repel Wildlife🐝🦋🐦🐌🪰🐇🦌
Attracts: Deer, rabbits, bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators
Repels: Not applicable
Diseases and Pests🐜🦠
Note: Proper care keeps plants resilient and healthy, preventing diseases and pests. This list details the potential threats, specific diseases and pests vary depending on environmental climate.
Diseases:
◦ Powdery Mildew: Disease caused by a fungus due to overwatering or overcrowding, making the plant vulnerable to other pests.
◦ Root Rot: Affects the roots of plants growing in wet or damp soil, may be lethal to both indoor and outdoor plants.
Pests:
◦ Aphids: Small, soft-bodied sucking insects which pierce plant tissues and draw out the juices.
◦ Leaf Hoppers
◦ Weevils
Animal Toxicity and Medicine Interactions ☠️❤️🩹
Animal Toxicity: Safe for dogs, cats, and horses.
Individuals may have a sensitivity or allergies to lentils, consult a healthcare professional first and proceed at own risk.
Use and Harvest⚕️🌾
Use:
◦ Legumes: The seed of the plant may be cooked similarly to peas. Excellent in soups, stews, salads, dips, hummus, and desserts.
◦ Leaves: Use raw for salads or garnishes. Cooked leaves may be steamed, sautéed, or added to soups and stews.
Benefits: Antioxidant (protects cells), anti-inflammatory (reduces internal and external swelling), improves digestion, heart health (cardiovascular health), bone health, skin health, and helps diabetes and weight management. High in fiber, protein, amino acids, iron, choline, copper, manganese, phosphorus, zinc, vitamins B1 (Thiamin), B5 (Pantothenic Acid), B6 (Pyridoxine), and B9 (Folate) also a good source of calories, carbohydrates, vitamins B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), magnesium, potassium, and selenium.
Dosing: Rinse and cook, ½ cup each day for adults
Click Here for How To Harvest, Dry, and Properly Store Herbs and Seeds
Harvest: Never harvest more than 20% of a plant’s leaves or roots!
◦ Leaves: From Summer to Fall.
◦ Seeds: Harvest the dry pods that contain the seeds from Summer to Fall. Follow harvesting techniques in the link above to extract and properly store the seeds.
Aroma, Flavor, and Culinary Combinations🧼🍴
Flowering stage slightly impacts leaf flavor, creating a slightly bitter taste
Aroma: Flowers do not create a smell; Cooked lentils are fragrant
Flavor: Earthy and savory
Culinary Combinations: Lentils compliment herbs and spices (thyme, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, parsley, sage, cardamom, coriander, chives, ginger), quinoa, whole wheat enriched pasta, wild rice, beans (sugar snap peas, green beans, chickpeas [garbanzos], black, pinto), legumes (lentils, mung beans), tofu, tempeh, mushrooms, nuts (roasted cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pine nuts), vegetables (arugula, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Winter squash [pumpkin, butternut squash, acorn squash], Summer squash [zucchini, straightneck, and crookneck], red potato, white potato, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, lemongrass, bell pepper, carrot, beet, asparagus, brussels sprouts, radish, tomato, and cucumber), and fruits (avocado, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, apricot, mango, citrus [lemon and lime], and figs)
History 📜
Lentils have been an important and nutritious food source as early as 8,000 B.C, originating in the Mediterranean.
Lifespan⏳
1 year longevity for life expectancy.
Vegan Botany 