Requires a well-drained porous fertile soil in a warm sheltered position. A frost-tender species, it can be grown outdoors in Britain as a half-hardy annual. This species is closely related to P. louisianica.

Leaves - cooked as a potherb with beans. The half-ripe seedpods are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. They are 8 - 10cm long. Seed - cooked. Boiled and eaten. The soft immature seeds can be eaten raw, roasted or ground into a paste.

Seed - sow spring in a warm greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out after the last expected frosts.

Not known