Pigeon Pea

Overview

Pigeon pea is a short-lived perennial shrub and one of the most valuable support plants in a tropical food forest. Its roots host bacteria that pull nitrogen from the air into the soil. It grows quickly from seed, handles drought, and can be cut back hard again and again for mulch.

It is the safe choice where permaculture books often suggest leucaena or tithonia, both of which spread invasively in Hawaiʻi.

History

Pigeon pea likely originated in India and has been grown in Africa and Asia for thousands of years. It is a staple legume across South Asia, the Caribbean, and Africa, and is part of many food traditions in Hawaiʻi.

Growing on Kauaʻi

• Thrives in sunny, moderate to dry areas and tolerates poor soil.
• Grows in wetter areas too, but needs good drainage and may be shorter-lived there.
• Its deep taproot helps break up compacted soil.

Planting and propagation

• Soak seeds overnight, then sow about 1 inch deep, 3–4 seeds per spot.
• Thin to the strongest one or two seedlings once they are a few inches tall.
• Sow in rings around future trees, about 3 ft out, or in rows across the windward side.
• Save seed from your best plants to resow.

Care and maintenance

• Cut back hard once or twice a year, to about knee to waist height, after a pea harvest or when it starts shading plants it shouldn’t.
• Chop the trimmings into 6–12 inch pieces and lay them around nearby trees.
• Plants get woody and less vigorous after a few years; replace them with fresh seedlings.

Role in the guild

In the starter guild, pigeon pea surrounds the young breadfruit, feeding it nitrogen and mulch and sheltering it from wind. As the breadfruit canopy grows, cut the pigeon pea back harder each year until shade-loving plants take over.

Harvest

Pick green pods when the peas are plump but still green, and shell them like garden peas. Or let pods dry on the plant and store the dry peas. Plants flower and fruit for months, especially when days shorten in fall and winter.

Uses

• Food: green peas cooked fresh; dry peas in soups, stews, and dal.
• Soil: nitrogen and chop-and-drop mulch.
• Shelter: fast temporary windbreak and shade for seedlings.
• Bees: the yellow flowers feed honeybees and other pollinators.
• Animal feed: leaves and pods are good fodder for goats and poultry.

Problems to watch

• Pod borers and other insects can damage pods; healthy, diverse plantings usually keep them in check.
• Root rot in waterlogged soil.

Learn more

• Plant Pono (check any species)

General guidance for Kauaʻi; conditions vary by site. Check any new plant at plantpono.org before planting.