[mrs mud]

I sowed my first lot of peas 4 weeks ago and am delighted to see them emerging.  However there doesn't seem to be many, less than half are showing so far.  Am I being hasty, I was thinking of poking a few more in.  The ones that have come up are about 1 inch.  I have just sown another row this week and will be doing two more rows a bit later

[sunshineband]

It is possible that some have been eaten by mice, as they are atttracted by the smell given off when peas germinate.

Have a furtle around and see if any of the ones where there are spaces are still there, before sowing any more.

[DD.]

4 weeks ago would make it early March, a little early in my book. The ground may not have warmed up and if it was cold and damp they may just have rotted off.

[Trillium]

As Sunny suggests, I had mice stealing mine. Never had a problem until the last 2 years when the little beasts discovered my peas. Row covers don't work because they simply find a way under them. In the end, the only thing that worked was a tangled length of netting I had which I pinned down along the row length. Soon enough my peas sprouted and I carefully removed the netting before the peas got thoroughly tangled in it. I'll be repeating it this year.

This worked for me because I knew it was mice stealing them rather than planting too early.

[PembsPanther]

I have mine is an unheated propagator on the window sill, is this wrong?

[DD.]

They do not need to be indoors.

The other important thing to be aware of is that you need a lot of them. 12 will only make a standard foot of row, so a short row of 10 ft will need 120 plants, for instance.

[lochnesslass]

can i also ask how long generally do they produce for?
my packet says to sow every 10 days for successional (sp) sowing.
so i only have 10 each that are 2-3 weeks old and just sowed 33 last night of jumbo pea and sugar snap and will follow up in 2 weeks with the same.
or should i be sowing them all?

[DD.]

I tend to sow the lot in one go.

Sucessions are fine, but things catch up. A few years ago I did sowings of Kelvedon Wonder two weeks apart and was picking two days apart.

The other reasons are that early sowing tend to avoid pea moth, whilst later one get them and mildew.

Well, at least down here they do!

[Salmo]

If your early row is a bit thin my advice would be not to try and patch with extra peas but just look after what you have and get on with the next sowing. Where plants are thin they will have more space and will compensate. Remember that you are trying to produce flowers and pods, not leaves.

[RichardA]

old farmers saying "one for rook and one for crow, one to rot and one to grow". in gardens for rook and crow read MICE.
R

[PembsPanther]

They do not need to be indoors.

The other important thing to be aware of is that you need a lot of them. 12 will only make a standard foot of row, so a short row of 10 ft will need 120 plants, for instance.

I can live with the amount of plants but what is the return like? My rows are going to be a bit shorter at around 7 foot so in theory 70 plants, is that right? seems an awful lot in such a small space? What kind of a yield can I expect from this? How much space between rows? Could I get away with just 2 rows total? Are they a climber, just grown them up normal canes?

Sorry for all the Q's.......

Thanks in advance

[DD.]

Apologies to others, but most of your questions wil be answered byreading this thread:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=50902.0

Peas don't climb like runner beans do, they will cling onto things, but do need alot of suppoert.

You'll see yields given as 1lb of shelled peas per foot of row, but I think this is on a good day, with the wind behind you

Spacing between rows should be the same as the height your variety grows to.

[Swing Swang]

I tend to sow the lot in one go.

Sucessions are fine, but things catch up. A few years ago I did sowings of Kelvedon Wonder two weeks apart and was picking two days apart.

This is my experience too.

I also suggest not using a 'short commercial variety' as these are designed to all mature at once, most of the 'tall' varieties that I've grown have cropped over a 20-25day period, although the 'flush' is only 14 days. The following have worked well for me (with my comments, note I only grow mange-tout/sugar snap varieties):

Sugar Snap, Delikett - easily available, good flavour, one I keep coming back to.
Mange-tout, Golden Sweet, yellow-podded - nice taste (not amazing) and easier to see when picking - worth growing for the flowers alone, as pretty as any sweet pea.
Mange-tout, Ezethas Krombek Blau - easy to see (blue pods)
Mange-tout, Bijou - huge pods, but not as high yielding as some of the others so no real increase in yields
Mange-tout, Oregon Sugar Pod - reliable performer, excellent taste.

Comment on freezing - I find that if they are picked very dry, deep frozen, UNBLANCHED, in a 'proper' freezer and used within a couple of weeks they are still acceptable which is a way of extending the cropping season slightly.

I do note that Realseeds list two "very, very early" peas so maybe a way of extending the cropping season is to plant different varieties at the same time.

SS

[PembsPanther]

Thanks for the link DD that thread has some fantastic information, you were right it has answered all my questions

Thanks to you as well swing swag I always think one of the best ways to learn anything is from other peoples experiences

Oh and apologies to OP did not mean to hijack your thread just thought it was appropriate to add questions here seen as it was about peas anyhow.

[mrs mud]

no problemo, it's all good