How to grow Peas
About
If you speak to someone about growing there own fruit and vegetables if you ask them what is one of the best thing to grow and they will say peas. There is nothing better than growing your own peas. People who grow peas will tell you that they actually never make it off the allotment into the pan as you will have ended up eating them all as you pick them
The reason why peas are so nice when you pick them is that the sugars start to turn to starch and they all start too loose there flavor. So if you do plan on boiling them make sure you pick them and boil them straight away.
In this section we will explain how to grow peas at home and the allotment in th UK and the rest of the world. Peas are extremely easy to grow and you can get a good crop if you do it right.
Peas are like potatoes when you are sowing them you have earlies, second earlies and main crop peas. The best type to grow are definitely the early variety as they do not take long to grow compared to the second earlies and main crop. So if you can try and find the early variety of pea. These can be sown from Spring all the way up to Summer for a great harvest.
Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book
Are you starting an allotment or planning on growing your own fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers in a kitchen garden? If so we highly recommend the book Allotment Month By Month. This does exactly what it does on the cover to help you with what you should be doing in the allotment and kitchen garden each month. Below you can see the link for Amazon where you can purchase the book directly. This book is extremely popular with all allotment holders as you will read in the reviews:-
You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.
When to plant Peas
Peas are best grown at intervals so that you have an endless supply of them all through the year. Here we will give you the best times to plant those peas through the year outside or in pots.
You can also freeze peas so that if you do end up growing too many and don’t want to share them you can freeze them until you need them. Below you can find the best time to sow peas – This is for the UK climate though.
| Sow | March to July |
| Harvest | June to October |
Varieties of Peas
There are many varieties of peas worth trying to grow. Here we have listed all our recommendations for growing the best peas in your garden or allotment. Sugar snap peas are a great type to grow and extremely tasty.
Early Pea Varieties
- Early onward
Main Crop Pea Varieties
- Kelvedon Wonder
Mangetout Pea Varieties:
- Oregon Sugar Pod
Sugar Snap Peas Varieties
- Sugar Ann
Where to grow Peas
The best place to grow peas is well prepared soil that has been dug over beforehand. You can do this by adding well rotted manure or compost a month beforehand. Peas don’t like hot weather so make sure they are kept watered in the warm weather. You can mulch around the bases to keep in moisture. Do no plant peas if the ground is wet as this can cause the peas to rot and you will loose your crop.
How to sow Peas
When sowing peas this can be done either straight in the ground or in pots first. You could ask your child or grandchild to help as the peas you are planting are easy to handle.
First you will need to prepare your trench by digging it over, add compost and well rotted manure to help improve the soil and get better crops. The soil also needs warming up before planting – do not be tempted to plant peas in the cold weather as they will just not germinate. To warm the soil up you can put a sheet of plastic over the ground this will warm the soil up.
Once you have sorted a trench out you can sprinkle water into the trench and sow the seeds in the ground. Make sure you sow the pea seeds around 5cm apart.
Make sure you protect your pea seeds from mice as they like to dig them up and eat them. Also when the shoots start to pop through pigeons will eat the tops off them so protect them with netting.
If you are wanting a long harvest of peas through the year you can keep sowing some every 4 weeks so that you get a continuous harvest through the year.
If you are wanting to sow peas in pots you can sow a few seeds in each plant pot. When the plants are around 7cm these can be planted out in the ground at around 5cm apart.
You can find out how to plant pea seeds here in the video below:-
Caring for the crop
To care for your pea plants make sure that you put support up before behind your plants as when they start growing they will need to cling onto something. The ideal choice is netting or chicken wire as this is strong and can be reused.
Make sure your peas are protected against the pigeons attacking the shoots and also the mice digging up the seeds. Once the plants are big enough to handle they should not get attacked by the birds anymore.
How to harvest
This is the most favorite part harvesting the peas. Make sure that you keep picking the peas regularly and not leaving them too long as they will loose there taste and become hard. When picking peas start at the bottom of the bush and work your way up.
Once harvest is over and the plant has stopped producing peas snip it off at the bottom of the plant and leave the roots in the ground as the nutrients from the white nodules will go back into the soil and help improve it ready for the next crop of plants you decide to put in.
Pests
There are quite a few pests that can attack the peas:-
Mice – these like to devour the pea seeds in the ground. You can use mice traps to catch the mice.
Pigeons and birds:- These will nibble the tops of the growing shoots. Protect the pea plants from birds by using netting.
Pea Moth:- caterpillars can develop inside the pod of a pea and they will eat all the peas that are growing they could even destroy all of your crops in the garden. You can protect by using insect proof mesh to look after the crops.
Diseases
The only disease that peas are prone to are powdery mildew. You can protect your peas by purchasing varieties which are resistant to this.
Facts
The Uk is the largest producer of peas in the world.
Freezing
You can freeze peas as soon as they have been picked to lock in the flavor. Defrost them when you are ready to use them.
Cooking
As well as cooking the peas which will taste delicious you can cook the shoots and side shoots of the pea plant. These will even surprise you by tasting like a fresh pea.
Growing Questions
Do peas need to climb?
You do need supports to grow peas up, this is because if they trail on the floor they risk been getting eaten by mice and pests.
What is the best way to grow peas?
The best way to grow peas is in a trench which has been prepared earlier and let them grow up some netting to support them.
What month do you plant peas?
You can plant peas from late March all the way upto July. Just make sure that you don’t plant in wet ground as they peas will rot.
Do peas need a trellis?
Peas do need some sort of support to grow up.
Should I soak peas before planting?
Yes you can soak the peas before planting. Ideally soak the pea seeds for around 12 hours before planting this will make them ready to germinate straight away.
Do peas need full sun?
Ideally you want to grow your pas somewhere that gets around 6 hours of sun a day to help them grow well.
Is it too late to plant peas?
You can grow peas right the way up to July in the UK for a late harvest in September/October
Are peas easy to grow?
Peas are extremely easy to grow in the garden. As long as you protect them when they are growing against the mice and pigeons you should be ok.
How many peas should I plant?
You can plant around 30-40 seeds per person. You usually get quite a lot of pea seeds in a packet.
How do you make peas grow faster?
Keeping the ground warmer and keeping the plants moist will help the plants grow well.
Why arent my peas growing?
Check the ground to see if the peas are still there mice could have eaten your plants also they may have rotted.
What is the best way to plant peas?
The best way to plant peas is in the ground in a trench.
You can find more tips on growing produce here
