[HHH]

Does anyone have any recommendations for the best materials (and sources) for pea sticks? Two of my allotment mentors swear by hazel - but where to get them? Others recommend bamboo and netting. I'd be grateful for views on this.

[sunshineband]

Generally people here have to go with what they can get.

Tall peas need tall supports and pea sticks may not do the job as well as canes and netting, while the dwarfest varieties get by quite well with just a few tallish twigs in amongs them

I know this is vague, but if you look at your seed packet and check the height of the varieties you are goin to grow, that mught help a bit as a starting point.

[HHH]

Generally people here have to go with what they can get.

Tall peas need tall supports and pea sticks may not do the job as well as canes and netting, while the dwarfest varieties get by quite well with just a few tallish twigs in amongs them

I know this is vague, but if you look at your seed packet and check the height of the varieties you are goin to grow, that mught help a bit as a starting point.

I'm growing Hurst Green Shaft, so a little over 3 foot. In previous years I've grown in the back garden using stripped young branches from a hornbeam as supports. I've now moved from that house and have my first allotment /

[DD.]

Time to post this, maybe?

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

[HHH]

Time to post this, maybe?

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

Thank you DD. That's really helpful

[Janeymiddlewife]

I use dds method and grow mangetoute, just banged posts in yesterday but will leave string until I sow them. works for me, having used hazel before they got in an awful tangle and I missed quite a few pods.

[DD.]

I sow first and net, but only about 6" off the ground. I use debris netting at this stage, well weighted down to keep the mice off.

Only when the peas are a few inches high do the supports and twine appear, the debris netting then moves on to be used elsewhere for brassicas and the like and it's replaced with any old netting sufficient to keep the pigeons off.

In fact, I'll edit my general advice to include this bit.

[HHH]

I sow first and net, but only about 6" off the ground. I use debris netting at this stage, well weighted down to keep the mice off.

Only when the peas are a few inches high do the supports and twine appear, the debris netting then moves on to be used elsewhere for brassicas and the like and it's replaced with any old netting sufficient to keep the pigeons off.

In fact, I'll edit my general advice to include this bit.

Do you just lay the debris netting over the cultivated plot and weight it at the sides, or lift it off the ground with some supports? Just trying to get my head round what you're saying.

[DD.]

Just some short lengths of wood to raise it off the ground a few inches and a few old bricks to weigh the edges down.

[JayG]

I seem to be the only member who ever mentions using galvanised wire to make hoops of various heights and widths to support netting, but it's easy, cheap, reusable and works well for structures up to about a foot high.

Last year I used canes and pea netting for my 6'+ sugarsnap peas and it does work, although I never look forward to the annual struggle to untangle the damned stuff (and remove the dead plants afterwards) - you also need to bear in mind the considerable wind resistance of a tall row of peas - mine finished up with several additional buttressing canes to keep it all upright (not a pretty sight!)

[DD.]

I cover 3 to 4 rows at a time - wire hoops are not an option for me! 

[compostqueen]

I like using hedgerow material for pea sticks. Canes come from China so I'm not a fan

You can use branches etc off your garden shrubs or go for a walk with a pair of secateurs looking for hazels etc

[DD.]

For over 200' of peas - that's not an option! 

[aelf]

I have bamboo growing wild at the back of my work so I cut my own. They don't last any longer than a year so have to cut fresh every spring but they do the job. I did use willow sticks pruned from the willow at the end of my plot but they tend to put out roots and start growing  Same is true of same-season hazel prunings 

[Yorkie]

My wire hoops just fall over unless tied together horizontally with canes etc.