How to Grow Chickpeas

By the SoilCommander Editorial Team, under the guidance of Nitin Sharma, Co-Founder · · How we check our facts

On this page
  1. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum)
  2. At a Glance
  3. Quick Facts
  4. Soil & Growing Conditions
  5. Growth Stages
  6. Harvest & Storage
  7. Diseases
  8. Pests
  9. Chickpea, a Self-Supporting Legume for Poor, Dry Soil
  10. Plan your Chickpeas planting
  11. Growing Chickpea in another region
  12. Sources
  13. Frequently Asked Questions

Chickpeas are ready to harvest 100 days after planting.

Chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) — annual.

The short answer

Ready in
100 days
Site
6+ hours of sun, soil pH 6–8.5
Biggest risk
Chickpea Ascochyta blight

Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum)

A young chickpea plant with feathery green leaves — “Chanakah (Sanskrit- चणकः) (4218516670)” by Dinesh Valke from Thane, India is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

6 sources cited · Verified

At a Glance

Bowls of harvested chickpea seeds
Bowls of harvested chickpea seeds. Photo by Tonynirappathu, CC BY 4.0.
Cicer arietinum Chickpea Chickpea Ascochyta blig… Chickpea Fusarium wilt Aphids Flea beetles DISEASES PESTS

Quick Facts

A young chickpea plant with feathery green leaves
A young chickpea plant with feathery green leaves. Photo: “Chanakah (Sanskrit- चणकः) (4218516670)” by Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Factor Value
Soil pH 6 - 8.5
Sunlight 6-6 hours direct sun
Optimal growing temp 15-29°C
Minimum survivable temp -9°C
Time to harvest 100-100 days
Drainage Moist but well-drained
Lifecycle annual
Edible parts seeds (pods)

Soil & Growing Conditions

Rows of chickpea plants growing in a field
Rows of chickpea plants growing in a field. Photo by PJeganathan, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Soil pH range

6 8.5

Span reflects genuine variation between the cited authorities, not a single agreed figure.

Growth Stages

A young chickpea plant with feathery green leaves
A young chickpea plant with feathery green leaves. Photo: “Chanakah (Sanskrit- चणकः) (4218516670)” by Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Stage BBCH Notes
Sowing and germination 0 Sow indoors from late February or direct outdoors from March through midsummer; germination is rapid (Garden Organic).
Hardening off and planting out 1 Harden off and transplant seedlings once they have 4-5 true leaves, in May or June; self-supporting, no staking needed, in light, well-drained, sunny soil (Garden Organic).
Flowering and pod set 6 Sweetpea-like flowers appear, followed by short, inflated pods; established plants tolerate a light frost though young seedlings need protection (Garden Organic).
Pod filling and harvest 8 Harvest pods once they feel full, about 10 weeks after sowing; the plant crops little and often through summer if picked regularly (Garden Organic).

Harvest & Storage

Workers harvesting a chickpea field
Workers harvesting a chickpea field. Photo by PJeganathan, CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to pick: RHS: "fat green seedpods containing two or three peas to each pod" ready "usually...around 100 days after sowing", in spring or early summer.

Storage

Pods can be dried for long-term storage of seeds

Diseases

Rows of chickpea plants growing in a field
Rows of chickpea plants growing in a field. Photo by PJeganathan, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chickpea Ascochyta blight

Ascochyta rabiei

NDSU chickpea disease diagnostic series; leaf and stem lesions with pycnidia, seed discoloration.

Chickpea Fusarium wilt

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris

NDSU chickpea disease diagnostic series; flowering-stage wilt symptoms.

Pests

Rows of chickpea plants growing in a field
Rows of chickpea plants growing in a field. Photo by PJeganathan, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Aphididae (various spp.)

Flea beetles

Chrysomelidae: Alticini (various spp.)

Plan your Chickpeas planting

Timing for Chickpeas follows soil temperature and frost, not the calendar date. The Global vegetable planting calendar explains the method. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.

Growing Chickpea in another region

Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.

Sources

These 2 sources are specific to this region. The full list of 6 sources behind this guide (FAO EcoCrop, Garden Organic, GBIF and others) is in the references of our UK guide to chickpeas; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do chickpeas take to grow?

Typically 100 days, depending on cultivar and growing conditions.

What soil pH do chickpeas need?

A pH of about 6–8.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.

What problems affect chickpeas?

Our data links 2 diseases and 2 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.

Plan next season before the problems start

This page gives you the thresholds; the planner turns them into your own calendar. It works from what you can observe and measure in your garden rather than from dates written for somebody else’s latitude.

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SoilCommander Editorial Team — under the guidance of Nitin Sharma, Co-Founder

Every growing guide is checked against RHS, USDA Cooperative Extension, and other named horticultural authorities before publishing. How we check our facts.

How this guide is put together

The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against international horticultural research and extension sources. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.

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Last verified 2026-08-30

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