Past trouble with peas

[sandyullom]

I am going on my third year of gardening and have never had much luck with peas. Honestly, I don't know what kind I planted the first year, but last year I did the Super Sugar Snap. I get about half of them to germinate and though it's a poor percentage, the ones that do germinate look great. But then, at about 6-12", they just kind of dry up and die. Last year I got 2-3 pods off of the 48 seeds I planted. I've been told they are simple to grow, so I'm wondering what I'm missing. I planted them on April 25th, protected them from the later frosts we got (avg last frost date is 5/15 around here - Indiana) and then re-seeded about half of them on 5/12. I'm planning on trying again this year...any advice?

 

[msbear]

I've had the exact same issue. I'm going to try some new things this year.

#1 I don't think they like soil high in nitrogen. Manures can easily burn them. So a soil high in organic matter but not hot is healthy for them so Im planting them is a seperate, smaller garden.

#2 I plan to water them more.. keep the soil kinda moist

#3 Plant them in a semi-shady spot. -not full sun.

I planted a row of them.. had hubby build an adorable fence for them to climb and two of them took off ... the rest kind of stopped growing then dried up. I got peas from all of them. The small ones like 1 pod here and there. The two big ones did better but still not what they should have.

Good Luck to us both

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi sandyullom & msbear

Sounds to me that something might be eating your seeds -- mice love them! Did you check if the seeds were still there, un-germinated, in the soil?
Last year I found an old packet of seed I had not used so I pre-germinated them indoors (on sheets of very damp kitchen towel) on top of the fridge. When I saw the first signs of a shoot I put them in the ground. I do the same with beans now.

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[seedcorn]

great idea to dig up what isn't germinated to see if seed still there.

Since what did come up, went sickly and died, you've got other problems as well.

Peas need:

-planted early--you did.
-nitrogen. Did you use an innoculant on your seed? If there is an area that you are using that has never had peas before (or in last 2 years) natural bacterium is not in soil, so it's either feed them nitrogen (this can be tricky as too much--all vines, too little--die of nitrogen deprivation) or use innoculants--best solution.
-water, did your soil get too dry?

More thing to watch for:
-soil pH--any idea what it is? If pH is off, nutrients will not be available and some you don't want will become way too available.
-too much organic matter in soil, peas will go all to vine (I know not your problem) and forget to bloom/set pods.
-too wet of soils, will get root rots. Problem w/heavy clay ground.
-grubs, did you have any as they'll eat roots and kill plant.
-wireworms-feed on seedling when planted early in cooler, wetter soils.
-wife/kids--will pick and eat them before I get home, so I do work and others prosper. Something my Dad never told me.

Good luck, I have best results w/peas where you eat pod/peas. English peas are too much work for me.

 

[digitS']

Sandy', since you had to reseed them when those snap peas were planted 3 weeks before last frost, your soil then may be a little too cold for quick germination. At that time of year, my soil will be about 45 F, at best.

This table, Days to Germination for Vegetable Crops from the University of Minnesota, gives you some idea of what we may be up against.

Apparently, they didn't test pea seed below 41 but at that temperature, the seed took 36 days to germinate. At 50, they popped up in 14 days.

Spending a month in wet, spring soil before growth can begin puts them at risk of rotting. That is especially true for those varieties with a lot of sugar in the seed.

I cannot get in too much of a hurry putting pea seed in the ground. Spinach, lettuce and onion sets go in a couple of weeks before I plant peas. And then, snow pea seed is sown 1st.

You will notice that most English shell peas and snap peas have wrinkled seed. That is supposed to indicate the high sugar content. I don't trust them in very cool soil.

I think you have gotten good advice and this is just my 2 . . .

Steve ♪

 

[BlackThumb]

I love peas, so I planted some in containers in the fall. The containers were actually coffee containers, about a gallon in size. I had low expectations. I was wrong. They produced beyond my wildest expectations.

With that success, I decidd to plant some in the ground, which I did about six weeks ago (zone 9). Yesterday they were about 2" tall. Today, they are stubs. Mice. They even "trimmed" the broccoli which is six inches away from the beeping rodent deterrent.

 

[journey11]

-too wet of soils, will get root rots. Problem w/heavy clay ground.

I have had similar problems with mine in the past for this reason above. Mine behaved much like yours...sprouted, grew to about a foot, then got pale and sickly, turned yellow and died. My soil was too heavy/too wet. I added organic humus to the soil, decomposed bark and leaves. This made the soil drain better and after that I had no more trouble with it.

 

[digitS']

Peas and beans must be the most delectable veggie in the garden to rodents. Mice don't venture too far from cover. Unfortunately, my neighbor's raspberry/grape "jungle" provides quite a lot of that.

Don't give up on those broccoli plants, BT. One of the best harvests of broccoli I've had was from "rabbit trimmed" plants. Virtually, all the leaves were chewed off.
I fertilized, hilled and watered the plants. They responded wonderfully row ! The only one that didn't - was a plant set apart from the rest. For some reason, I missed it completely. That 1 plant never grew much over its season and produced only a 2-bit sized head :/.

Here's wishing you the Best of Luck with the veggies.

Steve