Topic: Pods On Sweet Peas

[gonz]

Hello

I have quite a few pods on my sweet peas and don't know if they are good for anything?  I am still getting loads of flowers but don't know if I should leave the pods on or snip them off?????

Thanks

Sam

[paddy]

Snip the pods off then stand by for more flowers.

paddy

[woodypecks]

While we,re talking about Sweetpea pods ...could anyone tell me if they are edible ? Should I accidently pick some of them with the mangetout or other peas?

[paddy]

i dont think they are edible. Best not take the chance

Paddy

[Borlotti]

Wait until they get brown and dried up and then save the peas as seed for next year.  I certainly would not eat them.  Next year soak them in water before you plant them, probably indooors on a window sill, and then plant out.  Result more sweet peas.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Don't start saving them yet though. Keep pulling them off, or the plant will stop flowering.

[Tyke]

While we,re talking about Sweetpea pods ...could anyone tell me if they are edible ? Should I accidently pick some of them with the mangetout or other peas?

I believe that they are highly toxic.  I found the following on a list of toxic garden plants:

Lathyrus species

   Common Names:  Sweet Pea, Everlasting Peas

   Description:   Climbing plants with showy flowers,
                singly or in clusters and are red,
                pink, white, yellow, blue or purple
                in color.  Fruit is a usually flat
                legume pod containing several
                seeds.

   Toxic Part:  Entire plant, especially the seeds.

   Symptoms:    Upon ingestion, causes permanent
                paralysis, slow and weak pulse,
                shallow breathing, pain, weakness,
                tremors, excitement, and
                convulsions.

There are websites that say people have eaten them, but i would not trust them.

 

[lottie lou]

My daughter bought "sweet peas" from Safeways years ago being sold as edible and I have eaten "sweetpea leaves" in a posh Chinese restaurant.  However they could have been a type of mange tout.

I always reckon, if in doubt, dont.

[Tyke]

perhaps you are right - sweet peas might mean different things in different regions or parts of the world.

I do remember being young and trying to eat a sweet pea and my grandmother shouting at me that it would kill me.

[Tyke]

I had another google about seet peas. It seems that US sites sometimes call peas in the pod (that we all know and eat) as Sweet Peas. This might show why there is some confusion on the web. However, the flowery sweet Peas are from the group Lathyrus:

Two of the most common cultivated sweet peas are the non-native common sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus), a Mediterranean native, and the grass pea, or azure blue sweet pea (L. sativus), a native of India. There are more than a dozen North American native species of sweet pea (Lathyrus spp.) that grow in California, including: Sierra pea (L. nevadensis), Silky beach pea (L. littoralis), and Wild pea, (L. japonicus). I'm not sure if you are asking about one of these three or one of the other native species, but the answer is the same for any plant in the Genus Lathyrus. Do not eat them! The Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System lists both L. odoratus and L. sativus in their database; and, according to the Cornell University Poisonous Plants Informational Database, the seeds of all species of Lathyrus are poisonous.

[Robert_Brenchley]

They're also a lot smaller than cultivated peas, so there's unlikely to be much temptation!