Hiya,
I hope this isn't too daft a question but last year I grew runner and french beans with reasonable sucess and the plants I stuck in in May lasted till the frosts with regular crops. I tried to grow peas and got a few but not many and on the back of the packet it says to sow every 2 weeks for continued cropping. Does this mean that peas don't work like beans and that once you have a crop then you need to ditch the plants and put new ones in?? And is there a list somewhere of plants that continue cropping vs plants that need regular replacements??
Dr Hessayon was not entirely clear!
Thanks,
piglit
Piglit - don't know. Just bringing it up because I want to know too!
My peas seemed to have several flushes of flowers, and then they finished so up they came and in went some more. If you only do one sowing you do end up with 'pea free' gaps when you have taken the first flush of peas and are waiting for the second flush to fatten up, which can be slow if you are relying on mother nature to water them. I am growing 4 different types of peas, 2 mange tout and 1 sugar snap to try and prolong the pea-ing season. ;D
Quoteto try and prolong the pea-ing season
Age will take care of that ;D
I don't have much luck with peas -but I keep trying, perhaps I need to go for different varieties. I did find last year that the autumn runners were the best -the others tended to go woody in no time.
Jeremy
Hi
A question you may be able to help me with...
Peas... I tried the plastic guttering trick last year...lining it with newspaper adding compost etc....they grew beautifully
The problems arose when I tried to slide the whole lot out...the paper had stuck to the plastic...where did I go wrong?
Derek
Derek,
Why the paper? I've done it without and it's still not that easy to slide them out. The germination wasn't that good for me though.
Jeremy
heheheh Jeremy!
I would think the paper became wet and stuck like sh*t to a blanket, as my eloquent mother would say! ;D
I sow direct, good and thick, cover with a piece of chicken wire to try and stop the little micees making off with them, and they pop up no bother, however, I do wait until the warmer weather and then sow frequently.
Jeremy
I had this 'not so bright' idea that the paper would make the slide easier...you live and learn :-[
Chatted with a guy on the allotment about this subject today and he tells me he smears the inside of the pipe with petroleum jelly (EJ he tells me the mice don't like it) but still has to slide the growing peas out in sections.
He also apparently drills holes in the guttering to aid drainage
Derek
Hi, wait till you are 100% sure you are frost free.Hoe the ground untill it's as fine as you can get it with plenty of manure or seaweed . Plant in rowes about 4" wide,[I make them 10 ft long to fit my plot]. Cover with fleece and bury the edges make sure there are no holes so your worst enemy the mice wont get in. Once the peas show and you think you have as many plants as you are going to get uncover them and put up some net for them to climb,this year i've got some sheep fencing. stop the plants from falling over with long lenghts of string.
last year 3 rows produced over 40 pounds of shelled peas in the freezer. Good Luck.
I've never tried the guttering method, just hit and miss, which missed a bit too often. Last year I tried pre-germinating all large seeds (peas, beans, sweetcorn etc) on wet kitchen towel in lidded marge tubs and sowed them when the root was showing but before the shoot emerged. It worked well.
I always mean to try succession sowing, but never get round to it somehow. Perhaps this year....
Sue
Thanks Steve a I will try that.
I've never tried the gutter method either.
Good Morning 8)
Just this Thursday set Sugar Snap in two small Progators in the Summer - house. Kept the Rest in a Plastic Sealed Container for Planting direct into the Ground in the Warmer weather. Today its snowing here in Holland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Question!! ;)
But I would also like to know!! How High can I expect these to Grow: the Make of seed= Heraut.
Greeting  Take Care Tulip -23  Mike :)
Do peas not like root disturbance? (just wondering why the guttering?)
Started mine in modules last year, but the transplanting can be a hassle - with the guttering, just slide it off?
Thanks MV - I think I'll do modules. No room for guttering (or anything, really!)
hi there,
Last year I have an excellent year for mine sugar snap. they grew about 4 foot high. the peas pods were about 5" long. Very sweet very tasty. I got from wilko last year. I've bought some more for this year. I just put some in pots to see I can get a bit early crop than last year. But last year I sowed them direct to the ground on 1st April. Started pick them early June. I wounder can I get a bit early this year or not? I lived in Lancashire.
EJ 'when you said keep sowing bit more !.' Is that mean on the same plot same row? Or separated them?
Back at the original question.
The shorter peas do have a limited harvesting time which is why you need to keep sowing them
The larger (5'+) varieties have a much longer cropping period and so, although each row is a bit fiddlier to grow - tall supports required - you need far fewer rows and seed
Phil
Wherever I have a spare bit on the plot yuet, which normally means taking over a pathway!
Good to know Phil, I am growing Alderman this year and if it is more productive than the shorter varieties I may become a convert!
last night I opened a pack of pea seeds and did the following...
soaked them for 15 mins as per instructions
then went into the garden (it was twilightish!) and put them all into the ground.
I made 2 inchish deep holes 3" apart in 4 rows (5" apart) and popped a seed in each.
Then I covered the area with compost and kind of filled the holes by moving it round with my hands.
THis morning I noticed a cat nearby one of my plots (made 2) and this afternoon I discovered this forum and now am thinking I was a bit rash and should have took time.
Have I much chance of any peas turning up later this year?
Phil
I would say, if you are in a sheltered spot, then you maybe okay. Do you have any fleece or cloches that you could cover the row up with? I think the problem would be very wet ground rotting the seeds off before they have a chance to germinate.