A month ago (Feb 26th, to be exact) I sowed some peas of two different varieties in one of my raised beds. So far none of them have appeared. Are they OK? Have they been eaten by mice? Have they rotted in the soil? I'm getting anxious... However, in my usual fashion I also sowed some peas indoors in pots as a sort of insurance policy. These ones were sown on 30th January. They are "Early Onward".
I have been tempted to use them in a salad as pea-shoots. I think if the outdoor ones had germinated by now, I probably would have.
However, the seedlings looked very healthy and were just the right size to go outside, so I have planted them in the raised bed where the other peas seeds were sown. I had to be very careful in selecting where to put them, since I wasn't exactly sure where the un-germinated ones are / were. I made holes with a wooden dibber and planted the pea seedlings deeply, with the soil level right up to their lower leaves.
There were 16 peas in the pot, and spacing them evenly along the bed means that they are very roughly 6 inches apart.
As you can see, they are comprehensively barricaded against the local wildlife. A piece of chicken wire is pegged over the bed, and it is supported by some bamboo canes laid across the bed, keeping the wire well above the peas. A sprinkling of slug pellets completes the defence.
I have two other pots of peas growing on the Dining-Room windowsill, but their germination rate has been very poor. In both cases I sowed 16 seeds, and in both cases only 6 have come up, and a couple of those look fit to die! I think I will start again...
P.S. On a different note... Some of the Asparagus that I transplanted into a big container the other day has evidently survived the move:-
I'm rooting for you and your peas! I'll be sowing mine in a couple of weeks - can't wait. I loved the shelling peas that we grew last year & was so surprised by the rather large harvest (relatively speaking) that we had from such a small sowing. I had always read that growing shelling peas was not worthwhile as you ended up harvesting so little. Just reaffirms my belief it's usually best to try things out yourself and draw your own conclusions rather than solely relying on popular opinion.
ReplyDeleteI've sown peas the past 3 years and I'm so lucky in that I've never had a problem with them - they're one of my best grows! I've found that sowing them outside now is a little early for me and they never seem to germinate, so I tend to wait till around the end of April-May time to sow them directly outside. If I sow them in pots, I would sow them around now, then plant them out not disturbing their roots too much and then pretty much leave them to do their thing (other than training them up the poles).
ReplyDeleteGood Luck with your peas! I hope they turn out ok!
A month seems long enough if they were going to sprout. I usually plant my peas a little later and the later start does not hurt the yield. If you see PM, try a milk and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) spray which is safe and pretty effective.
ReplyDeleteI always pre-germinate peas, beans and courgettes also cucumbers, when they have germinated then I plant into individual modules, they then get transplanted into their permanent growing position when they are around 2-3 inch tall, never fails for me.
ReplyDeleteI never could grow peas well here as we don't have enough of a cool season or I just didn't have enough sun for them to grow fast enough. I have always loved snow peas though and planted them every year and managed to get a helping or two out of them before they died. When I was a child in NH, we grew lots of peas. I know my mother had enough from a few rows of our 1 acre garden to can them for later.
ReplyDeleteMost likely the soil was just too cold for them to germinate before the dampness got to them. That reminds me, the sugar snap peas were scheduled for seeding in my garden a week ago.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that the peas were planted too early in the raised bes. We wait until April at the earliest then we sow the seeds quite liberally. Good luck with the transplanted please we have never had much success transplanting.
ReplyDeleteYeah, maybe you are right. I followed the advice on the seed packets, but of course those mention DATES not temperatures. If nothing happens soon, I'll re-sow.
DeletePlanting dates and seed packets are a bit like use by dates on supermarket food. To be taken with a pinch of salt.
DeleteI had a look this evening, and the first couple of peas are showing through! Hallelujah!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking that the soil temp would have been too cold for peas, glad to read that they're now beginning to germinate - and hopefully your transplanted peas will be okay. You've reminded me that I need to sort some peas out, they're so delicious!
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