We are planting our first outdoor peas now.
Just wondering I'f people bother soaking theirs before planting and if so how long for ?
Hi,
I've never soaked mine and always plant straight in to the ground and have had no problems and good crops 8)
Some people may say i'm wrong but i guess its what ever works well for you. try both ways and see ;)
Steve.
I fully agree with Steve I have never soaked peas before sowing and would be nervous to do so as they could tend to rot.
We have never soaked peas before planting they always do well ;D.
No, same here.
In the ground and a bit of water and away they should go. Just remember though, the wildlife will be thinking about feeding themselves and their young to come, so perhaps make it a little more difficult for them to take your seed. I grow in loo rolls in the greenhouse then plant them out once germinated at about 3 inches tall with pea sticks to deter the birds too.
Ninny
never soaked them myself
i also start them off indoors,i just throw in a few seeds while planting them out to fill any gaps :)
I might be able to give you a better answer in a week or so.
I have found that fresh seed can be sown successfully straight in with a good germination percentage.
However a few weeks back I sowed some last year left over seed and got a poor germination rate.
So I chitted some seed and it seemed that about 95% sprouted so I am now waiting to see if the sprouted seed produces more actual plants.
Some of the bought seed failed this year but every one of the saved seed came through, we've done the small peas in gutters and the huge ones in milk cartons ;D
Mine went straight in the ground, no soaking about two weeks ago. :)
Never soaked mine neither. I some straight into ground 10 days ago..and they are just starting to come through.. ;D
Next 'hurdle' is to keep sparrows away from snacking them .. ::)
I had a bad germination rate when we sowed our peas a month ago in the greenhouse. These were non soaked.
We have just done 12 soaked and 12 un-soaked as I was unsure whether it was me or the seed to blame.
We won't know for a little, but trying the same approach may answer your question for you :D
Since last terms peas not germinating we soak them in kitchen papper for 4 to 5 days then when each has shown willing ...3mm is enough..... I transfer them to toilet rolls about 2inches deep in riddled seed compost
and once we have 6 inch growth I dibber the loo rolls next to the Pea frame and off we go....do the same with whole beans ....and runners.
That said,ive had massive failures this season after trying to plant early and even with bubble wrap around them the frost has been an unwelcome sight with wilted plants.
I do have some growing straight in the dirt this year just to see if this method gets any better results.
always open to ideas,and interested to read so many folks are happy to sow direct.
Gaz
The only down side for planting straight into the ground is keeping them moist till they germinate and of coure the mice voles etc.
Last year i was a bit undr preasure so to make life easier for myself i planted direct as normal then laid clear pollythene oner the top with sided weighed down with lats and bricks. The lats kept the pest off and the polythene kept the soil moist and warm which i removes when i saw the peas pushing their heads.
MICE... >:(
I had never soaked but every year the mice enjoy the free meal I provide. This year I have tried soaking them so they get away before the mice tuck in.
A good remedy for mice is to dip the seeds in paraffin before planting. The mice wont smell them and it does no harm to the seeds..
I start mine in pots, well away from rodents.
good remedy for mice is to dip the seeds in paraffin before planting. paraffing with plants doesn't appeal for me..but I have used Olbas oil for similar purpose and its has worked.
This year I've not bothered, but instead I've given paths around pea bed little splash of Jeyes fluid water...not noticed any mice trouble and plenty of plants are pushing trough soil.. ;) ;D
Not against soaking them in Paraffin but its not for me i think there is plenty of other methods available. The best method by far for me is starting them of in house guttering takes up no space easy to keep moist and easy to push out straight into the ground in neat rows.
Guttering is fine for first early peas or a short row.. but when you have 40' of row it's easier to plant direct with the Jeyes, olbas, paraffin etc...
Quote from: gavinjconway on April 10, 2012, 20:51:29
Guttering is fine for first early peas or a short row.. but when you have 40' of row it's easier to plant direct with the Jeyes, olbas, paraffin etc...
Not disagreeing with you Gavin its everyone to there own way.
I have just planted out my first lot of peas and the guttering has been refilled ready to set my next lot to set away, the only difference i see is that i will have 40 ft of peas growing continuous.
Your method suits you and mine suits me
I do see your way now if you rotate the gutters and keep sowing every time you empty them... ;D hadn't thought about it that way..
Early peas in guttering, tall peas in milk cartons :)
Start them off in n/paper pots. Problem solves ;)
I put plastic bottles over mine. I did try some without, but they soon disappeared. Not sure whether it was the deer, the voles, the pheasant or pigeons.......
Quote from: daveyboi on April 08, 2012, 09:30:41
I might be able to give you a better answer in a week or so.
I have found that fresh seed can be sown successfully straight in with a good germination percentage.
However a few weeks back I sowed some last year left over seed and got a poor germination rate.
So I chitted some seed and it seemed that about 95% sprouted so I am now waiting to see if the sprouted seed produces more actual plants.
Well the results were better than the non chitted seed but still disappointing as only 58% produced plants so far and I realistically do not expect to improve on that much now.
Quote from: gavinjconway on April 09, 2012, 17:45:19
A good remedy for mice is to dip the seeds in paraffin before planting. The mice wont smell them and it does no harm to the seeds..
I have, in the past, soaked my peas in parafin for 24hrs. This really does no harm to the seeds and deters mice, voles etc. This year I have purchased a 2"paper pot maker and have had great succsess, putting 2 'Hurst greenshaft' peas into each pot and keeping them moist in G/H. I have also grown an old vintage pea that grows up a wigwam of canes to 5' high. My swede & parsnips seeds our having the same treatment ie in pots
Well, I soaked my peas (Alderman and some snap and mangetouts) to check their viability, put them into gutters when roots showed, planted them out a couple of weeks ago under netting against birds and rabbits.
Today gave them bamboo and string supports, and wrapped fleece around them against wind, birds and rabbits.
I think they look pretty good, no-one here has better ones, and I have high hopes for early crops. [Got to remember to to do successions, though....my big failure in other years]
I have experimented with both direct sowing and pre-chitting this year (trying to use old seed and be sure it's worth the space). I sowed new seed direct first: a patchy row to say the least, but still crop-worthy. About 10 days later, I pre-chitted old seed (surprisingly high germination rate for the 'vintage'), chitted on a cool windowsill and then just thrown in a trench as soon as they showed signs of life: better 'coverage' for the row and at a similar stage as the direct-sown, despite the 10 day gap.
Buoyed by the success, I pre-chitted some new Alderman seed, (seemed to be not far off 100% germination :D) then threw then in another trench....I'm fairly confident they'll be up and strong in no time.
Next experiment will be prechitting in light/dark conditions with the same seed at the same time. Perhaps I might have confused the aldermans by allowing too much light then throwing them into the dark?! They were coming up 'green' but they were certainly eager to get on with it!
I shall keep you posted on the outcome for my ickle peas. For me, it's just such a joy to finally have an allotment and be able to grow enough of a crop to finally have some get to the kitchen before being munched! ;D