[Rich72]

Had no luck at all with peas this year. Sowed 4 times and not a single plant grew.
I was talking to a plot neighbour who had tons of peas and he gave me some 'show perfection' peas to try next year. Anyone any advice on how best to get them to grow effectively? I thought I had everything right this year but obviously something went awry somewhere.

[DD.]

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

[Rich72]

Did that DD. They just didn't grow at all. Netted etc to protect from the local pigeon population but still no show

[DD.]

Duff seed?

[Rich72]

They were bought new. Hurst green shaft and kelvedon wonder. Sowed 2 lots of each

[mumofstig]

Mice/voles?

Did you sow at the same time as plot neighbour?

[DD.]

That's my other thought as well.

I've taken to laying debris netting flat on the pea area and pegging it well down until the peas start to show.

[mumofstig]

I cover mine with clear plastic sheeting, until they're through - which helps if the weathers a bit chilly as well 

[JayG]

Mice and voles are a possibility, as are slugs and snails - I've had a few apparent "almost no shows" over the years which I am almost certain was due to slugs wiping them out as they emerged.

As for the viability of the seeds, peas are very easy to chit - soak them for a few hours, drain, and chuck into a plastic box with a piece of damp kitchen paper in the bottom, and cover. In a couple of days you should see little roots starting to appear - sow them as normal ASAP. I started doing that after the "no show" incident using saved seeds that I weren't sure had been collected and stored correctly, and almost 100% germinated.
Pre-chitting does at least give the assurance that the seed is viable and may make the difference between success and failure, especially if the soil conditions are unfavourable (i.e. very cold and wet.)

My pea-growing is necessarily on a rather small scale so chitting is no bother - you may well feel differently about it if you grow on an industrial scale like wot DD does!   

[Growster...]

Fiddly I know, but I sow three per plastic pot, and germinate them in the greenhouse, then transplant them (in their rootballs) when they're about three inches high.

We had 95% germination that way, and after transplanting we kept about 90% of the plants going.

[fatbelly]

I had no success with Pea germination until I covered my sowings with enviromesh that is pegged down to stop the Mice etc getting in. I now have excellent germination

[Rich72]

Thanks for replies folks.
Had a chat to plot neighbour yesterday and he says he "chucks 'em in and leaves 'em". Think I will try covering with pegged down debris netting in spring. On a positive note if it is mice, a weasel seems to have made a home on my plot. Saw it twice in my shed yesterday. My plot seems to be turning into a nature reserve. Grass snakes in the compost, weasel in the shed