Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: antipodes on May 02, 2014, 10:04:38
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I am having terrible trouble with peas this year!
I planted a first batch of Alderman, nothing came up! So about 12 days ago I resowed alderman and some early onward. I still have the impression that nothing has come up. Am I being too impatient? Some of the mangetout I sowed next to them have come through, although germination is not perfect. Could they be getting eaten by voles?
Maybe I should net them? I have some CDs tied to their stakes to deter birds. My neighbours seem to have not troubles and their peas are now getting quite tall. Maybe I will just have to consider it a pea less year :-(
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Might be worth trying netting. Had the same problem, then I noticed early one morning, a pigeon walking along the rows pulling up the new pea shoots that had appeared overnight. Built a tent with canes, those balls with holes and bird netting. Filled in the gaps with new peas and a few weeks later all is now well.
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If whole sowings are going missing then it's probably mice/voles ... you're going to need to get them started off away from where the mice can get at them. Either in modules or a length of guttering the size of the row - I've only had any joy out of starting them off in the greenhouse this year - whole direct sowings have just disappeared!
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Also soaking the peas in a solution of loads of crushed up garlic before planting ... and then watering all around with the garlic water ... that worked for my first sowing this year.
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I grow my peas in gutters too, and when planted out I wrap them up for the first weeks in fleece against birds, cold winds, anything else threatening them. They seem to thrive inside that slight shelter, though it gives the plot a rather strange look.
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Might be worth trying netting. Had the same problem, then I noticed early one morning, a pigeon walking along the rows pulling up the new pea shoots that had appeared overnight. Built a tent with canes, those balls with holes and bird netting. Filled in the gaps with new peas and a few weeks later all is now well.
Hi Redalder, welcome to the forum :wave:
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Mice, voles or pigeons. Try starting them in pots. I still have to protect them against pigeons.
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I put chicken net over peas when I plant them, birds can’t get at them But my first sowing has been wrecked by flea beetles. Grrrh.
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nothing has come up
Have you tried digging them up to see if there are any seeds there?
If the are none it suggests some form of wildlife got to them
Then again you might find soft mushy peas meaning they have rotted away which could be a sign that they were too wet, and possibly too cold!
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What is odd is that some have germinated (the mangetout) but not all varieties.... If it were birds surely they would have the lot. having said that, no I didn't dig around to see if they had germinated under the soil...
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I start peas off in bedding strips.... doesn't take long, you can keep them somewhere safe and you know the darn things were up when you plant them out.... that said I tend to grow them on in big autowatering pots.... the climbrs up a cylinder of chicken wire, the bush ones with some twigs pushed in.... it all works, I get peas... that said I will be planting out some more tall ones soon.... Ne Plus Ultra.....
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I sowed about 4 lots of peas and the whole lot disappeared apart from maybe 3 so I was recommended to roll them around in a bit of paraffine for 10 seconds. All the peas have now come up so thats how I will do it from now.
I bought a gallon for about 6 quid but it will last for years. Only need a cup full and you can reuse it any way
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My peas always dissappear too, so I now sow them in short lengths of guttering in my cold greenhouse and then transplant them and they work a treat. You can see how I get them out of the guttering here: http://notjustgreenfingers.wordpress.com/tag/sowing-peas-on-guttering/
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I sowed Golden Sweet, Purple Podded, Salmon Flowered and Elisabeth (as well as my precious experimental research material peas) in newspaper pots in my utility room until they germinated and went outside, then used some old fleece and net curtains to keep the birds out until they were big enough to cope without it. All is well.
Non-precious peas like Telephone, Sugar Bon, Waverex and Sugar Ann were direct-sowed under fleece/net curtain or with a temporary rigid wire cage and have come up perfectly, even thought I was concerned about mice or birds eating them.
Yeah I know, that's a lot of peas! 20 varieties, in fact... but it's for science! (And because they taste good.)
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I concluded that something must have eaten them as ten days ago there was still nothing!! I sowed more Mangetout, they seem to work better for some reason.
I will save myself some work though and sow the climbing beans in their place, since the stakes etc are already planted!!!
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Are your peas round or wrinkled antipodes?
The round ones are much less prone to rotting as they can germinate at lower temperatures, but the wrinkled ones are sweeter. That might affect things.
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errr I admit I don't know! I sowed Alderman which are climbers, and a dwarf pea called Tommy as well as some early onwards which are usually so reliable! We have had some odd weather here, cool then hot, maybe that put them off? The mangetout seem to be more cooperative.
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I've had entire batches taken out by mice - even in the greenhouse! You could tell it was mice as they sat on my other seedlings, squashing them, while munching away on my pea seeds. !!!
I sow all my seeds in the greenhouse now, but make sure I cover them enough to give them a chance to germinate. (also gets them started earlier, helpful when you're impatient like me!!).
I like the idea of garlic water, squeezyjohn: how strong(ish) would you recommend?
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errr I admit I don't know! I sowed Alderman which are climbers, and a dwarf pea called Tommy as well as some early onwards which are usually so reliable! We have had some odd weather here, cool then hot, maybe that put them off? The mangetout seem to be more cooperative.
Alderman's a wrinkled pea, but I haven't heard of Tommy so I can't help there! The round-seeded ones are less prone to rotting (early peas tend to be round) but they go starchy quicker as they get older. Maybe your mange tout peas are round, since it doesn't matter if they get starchy as you eat them very young anyway? You should be able to tell from the shape of the seeds, since round ones are perfectly spherical and wrinkled ones have flattened bits or dimples or wrinkles.
It's likely that mice are more attracted to the wrinkled ones too as they have a higher sugar content.
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None of the sources I can find actually say whether Tommy's wrinkled or not, but it's a modern semi-leafless variety so you can safely assume it is.
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I wasn't very exact about the garlic and chilli water I'm afraid - I threw about 3 large heads of garlic in a big watering can full of water and added quite a lot of chilli sauces that had gone off ... the mice didn't come near! Whereas they pinched all of the untreated ones I planted.
After I'd soaked the peas in the evil brew - I watered them with the leftover water to make the scent stronger. I think it probably works by masking the smell of the germinating peas that the mice use to locate them rather than actively repelling the mice.
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Check for pea weevil. Little notches/nibbles on all the leaves. Mine have been decimated this year and have been eaten as soon as they were germinating.
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I can't really sow elsewhere as I live in a small flat and have no greenhouse or anything. Oh well, just have to be a pea less year and I will try that garlic tip maybe next year!
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I sowed Alderman this year and the germination was dreadful and this was in trays in the greenhouse so not eaten or rotted just no germination, as always saved some to sow in situ when planting out with the others and again dreadful germination, so I imagine this could be a national problem or a seed merchant issue - mine were bought from King's seeds
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My germination's been a little mixed, but Salmon Flowered, Elisabeth, Telephone, Purple Podded, Golden Sweet and Sugar Bon germinated well. Waverex was terrible and Sugar Ann about 50%. Nothing to do with seed age as I first suspected as all mine except Telephone were 5 or 6 years old.
Telephone and Golden Sweet came from Real Seeds - I forget where I go everything else except Purple Podded, Salmon Flowered and Elisabeth which were gifted to me (by lovely people :)). And my 12 or so experimental varieties from the USDA and JIC have shown anything from 25% germination to 100%. Very mixed.
With French beans I'm seeing a lot more problems, but I guess they are trickier anyway. And it's much more obvious that beans from certain companies don't last long - the 5 year old cheapo seeds I got from places like Lidl and Wilko have rotted despite my best efforts to keep them on the drier side, but the ones from Real Seeds and Beans and Herbs or that I've saved myself have done much better.
It seems that a lot of people are having germination problems this year. I wonder what's going on?
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I have just read all of this thread and thought I would add my penny worth.
Along with several other allotment holders I have been having trouble germinating peas for the last 2 years.
Inside in trays in the green house, outside in drills, they just seem to rot for all of us. Up until 2 years ago I always started them off in seed trays with 100 percent germination.
We are beginning to think that it is poor seed, but saying that, different suppliers have been tried.
Any thoughts would be welcome, apart from buying frozen ones :tongue3:
Alan
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I always find sowing indoors makes for weaker, less vigourous seedings. I tend to sow thickly for best results direct. Saying that though this year's crop was still dismal. I have just had much better results in my last sowing with Thompson and Morgan seeds.
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I tend to sow my peas in root trainers. It gives them a bit of a start, and they are a little sturder when I put them out. Do net them too though as pigeons are a real problem on our site.
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Germination is always a big problem for me. I am plagued with voles that make life a bit difficult. I have had better luck though since I started fleecing them... As I cannot go down every day to water, I think this keeps them moist and stops them from being eaten. For once I have had success with carrots and beetroot and got a smashing crop of baby leaves in a pot that was fleeced. It also stops too many other weed seedlings getting in there.