🫘 Dylan Chickpea
What it looks like
No verified photo of ‘Dylan’ itself was found, so the pictures below show the species — the same plant, photographed generally.
Why this variety
Dylan is a large kabuli chickpea that has been trialed alongside CDC Frontier, Sierra, and the rest of the northern field class — flowering around 61 days in North Dakota trials, with large, smooth seeds in the classic hummus mold. If Frontier is the standard and Sierra is the existing garden kabuli on this site, Dylan is the third leg of the stool: another big-seeded, well-documented kabuli for cooks who want cream-colored seeds that cook up smooth.
Like all chickpeas, Dylan is a try-it-with-eyes-open crop in Florida. The species guide is blunt: chickpeas suit warm, semi-arid conditions and dislike humidity and wet foliage, with Ascochyta blight as the main Southeast battle. Dylan’s place in a Florida garden is the dry season — winter into spring, wide spacing, base watering, and a willingness to treat blight prevention as the whole job.
If you have not grown the species before, start with the Chickpea growing guide for the general picture, then come back here for what makes this variety different.
How to grow
Sow Dylan in the dry season in Florida — winter into spring — about an inch deep, 6 inches apart in rows 24 inches apart, in full sun. Wide spacing is airflow, and airflow is blight prevention. Inoculate seed where chickpeas have never grown, work a little compost or castings in at planting, and skip heavy fertilizer; Dylan fixes nitrogen and wants phosphorus and potassium for pod development, not a nitrogen push.
Water steadily at flowering and pod-fill, then reduce watering two weeks before harvest so pods dry cleanly. Use drip or base watering — wet leaves invite blight, and a kabuli in humid air is already playing defense.
Water & feeding
About an inch a week, more during flowering and pod-fill, then taper before harvest for clean, dry pods. Base watering only where possible. In sandy soil, mulch holds moisture without wetting foliage — moist roots, dry leaves, every time.
Common problems
- Ascochyta blight in wet weather — rotate crops, space widely, avoid overhead watering, remove affected plants.
- Fusarium wilt — no cure; rotate for several years and choose resistant varieties.
- Aphids and leafminers — row cover early and blast aphids with water.
- Poor pod set — heat, drought at flowering, or poor pollination; water steadily at bloom.
Harvest
For fresh green chickpeas, pick plump green pods at about 60-90 days. For dry chickpeas, wait until pods and plants are fully dry, about 100 days, pull plants, dry for a few more days, then shell. Dry seeds completely — rock-hard, no give under a fingernail — before sealing airtight. Plan on several plants per person: each plant makes only about 50 pods with one or two seeds each, so a hummus batch takes a real bed, not a token row.
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Saving seeds
Dylan is a large kabuli chickpea, a field-class pure-line cultivar, so it comes true from seed — save seed from your best plants and let it dry fully before storing. The full method is in the Saving seeds section of the Chickpea guide.