Topic: When do people start sowing peas?

[Digeroo]

I started some mid march last year,  but other had some in pots which cropped sooner.  So I would be please to hear when people are planning to started getting there peas away.

[saddad]

Round seeded varieties can be sown now, although we will wait for the end of the month...  :)

[emmy1978]

End of Feb for me too.  ;D

[Tee Gee]

Back end of April for me!

See my way here;

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Peas/Peas.htm

[chriscross1966]

I'm going to look at putting in some in a couple of lengths of guttering in the GH, they'll be on the plot before I need the space for tender stuff....

chrisc

[manicscousers]

we'll be putting ours in guttering in a couple of weeks, hung up in the poly away from the meeces  ;D

[Duke Ellington]

I just have to say ...... Last year I used Tee Gees method and it worked beautifully!!
Thanks Tee Gee

Duke

[Mortality]

Does anyone soak the peas first or?
I think someone said they soaked their broad beans to give them a head start..

[plainleaf2]

5-6 weeks before last frost date.
all legume seeds need to be soaked in cool water 24 hours before they planted out.
this also helps the Pea and Bean inoculate adhere to the seeds.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I may start some in March this year, but it's usually been April.

[sunloving]

I'm going to start at the end of feb , but then sow a line or two every month until august becuase they hardly ever make it into the house ,too yummy!


If you are just begining with peas , sow a few outside now to see if youve got naughty mice who will eat or move them all. This will tell you what you need to do to them, sow in a gutter inside if you have mice(to high for a mouse) or sow them direct if you dont have mice (which is much easier and usually no probs with germination) and look forward to the best sweetest peas youve ever tasted!
x sunloving

[Robert_Brenchley]

I start them in pots, as I grow a lot of varieties, and have a wigwam or two for each. Cloches work for me, but my problem is pigeons getting the seeds.

[Digeroo]

I chit mine on damp kitchen roll and then put 3 or 4 under each plastic bottle cloche.   Keeps out the pigeons, mice and squirrels.  Most seemed to be ok with a bit of cold.  The Felham first sown under bottles before the winter are doing fine and they must have been at -8 on several nights, well perhaps a degree warmer in the bottles.

this also helps the Pea and Bean inoculate adhere to the seeds.

  I think our soils tend to have enough bacteria in so we do not seem to need any help.

 

[Robert_Brenchley]

My soil has been growing legumes since, I would imagine, 1840. So there should be plenty! Don't use it unless you find you're getting stunted plants, as you may well be wasting your money.

[carosanto]

HI Y'All

I actually planted some Meteor under cloches at the back end of last year!  This was more of an experiment really as here in Cornwall it was apparently common to plant peas at the beginning of the Winter for very early picking the following Spring.  So the mild Cornish winter passed me by and we've had the lowest temps ever.  But guess what, against all odds at least half have survided and are showing small strong plants.  Meeces have taken their share, but I do believe it has worked!  Worth a try in mild areas, and I wonder what the crop would have been like if we had not had such an uncharacteristically (phew) hard winter here.

Will be planting some more Meteor and Onward in a month or two, again starting under cloches.  All my peas did great last year despite torrents of the wet stuff during the summer.

Regards

[1066]

That's interetsing reading Carosanto! I'm trying some Douce de Provence from MoreVeg this year, and according to them they too can be sown in winter, but they find the best results come from sowing in pots then transplanting. Mine are now about an inch high, I'm going to give them a couple more weeks then its out in the big bad world of clay for them!!
You'll have to update us all on how the peas get on! i.e. how early they produce.
1066

[Jitterbug]

I have read somewhere that if you soak the peas in parafin then plant out they keep the mice down.  I did it once and did not really notice a difference to planting as I also sow them into guttering and hand them in the greenhouse until they are strong enough to plant out.

However with the cold snap expected later this week I think that I am going to hold off on sowing my sugar snap and other early pea.  I already have my sweet peas sown and in the windowsill.  I had to resow all my broad beans as the snow/frost (here in Bournemouth) killed off my broad beans.  Always overwinter them as I have picked them by the time the black fly get a hold.  Will have to look at trying to control them this year however.

Kind regards

Jitterbug

[carosanto]

HI Y'All - again

Certainly will give y'all an update of me peas, am looking forward to an ultra early plateful, if they ever make it home.

Just a thought 1066 - Douce de Provence - if these are a French pea, developed in South of France as name suggests (I am not just a pretty face) isn't it a bit OTT to expect them to come through an English winter....naughty MyVeg for promoting it as a winter-sown pea if so.  Think you are doing the right thing starting them off in pots!!!  Perhaps you could update us on your plateful too!

[1066]

(I am not just a pretty face)

Me neither  ;D  ;D  ;D

HI Y'All - again

Certainly will give y'all an update of me peas, am looking forward to an ultra early plateful, if they ever make it home.

Just a thought 1066 - Douce de Provence - if these are a French pea, developed in South of France as name suggests (I am not just a pretty face) isn't it a bit OTT to expect them to come through an English winter....naughty MyVeg for promoting it as a winter-sown pea if so.  Think you are doing the right thing starting them off in pots!!!  Perhaps you could update us on your plateful too!

but seriously .... yes I'll let you know how they get on, and I had wondered about their origins. Oh well time will tell  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Marshalls sell Douce de Provence for autumn planting. I've never tried it, but round seeded varieties are usually hardier.