Peas, as one of the first crops that can be sown outdoors in spring, are a harbinger of the growing season. There are climbing-type and bush-type peas, peas with colorful and interesting flowers, shelling peas and peas with edible pods. If you want to grow peas in your garden, here’s everything you need to know.
You can also download my How Do I Grow Peas? one-sheet and keep the free resource handy for your reference.
When I was a kid, the only peas I knew were the frozen kind — and I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan. But my kids enjoy peas fresh off the vine and eat them like candy. As a parent, you gotta love that! Home-grown peas can also be used in soups and stews or served blanched, sauteed, and stir-fried. They are just so tasty and versatile.
Pea plants (Pisum sativum) are nitrogen-fixing legumes that have few needs and rarely experience pest and disease issues. They thrive in cool weather, and in some climates, a second crop can be planted in late summer for a fall harvest, which makes peas a great candidate for succession planting.
Home-grown peas are tasty and versatile. They’re great in a variety of dishes or eaten right off the vine. (photo: Amy Prentice)
When to Plant Peas
Peas should be planted as early as you can get away with in spring to ensure a harvest before summer heat does the plants in. Generally, this means planting one month before your area’s average last frost date. Alternatively, plant as soon as the ground is thawed and the soil can be worked. The seeds can germinate in soil anywhere from 45°–75°.
Two weeks after the first planting, follow it up with another row. Staggering planting times will space out and extend the harvest. The second round will also be a backup in case the first planting proves to be too early and fails. One or two more rounds of plantings may follow.
Peas can also be planted in July or August for a fall harvest. However, the tender seedlings will need extra care to survive the heat in their first few weeks, like shade cloth or floating row cover.
Peas should generally be planted one month before your last frost date.
Where and How to Plant Peas
Peas require full sun to thrive — that’s six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily. Peas will grow in partial shade, but not as vigorously.
Peas enjoy rich, well-drained soil with a fairly neutral pH, between 6 and 7.5. Apply finished compost and work it into the first few inches of soil to give the pea seeds a strong start.
Peas do not respond well to transplanting, so seeds should be direct sown outdoors. They should germinate within 14 days. To speed up germination, seeds can be placed in warm (but not boiling) water and left for 24 hours to soak before planting.
Peas don’t typically do as well when transplanted, so it’s one of those crops where seeds should be direct sown outdoors.
Sow peas 1 to 2 inches deep. Space climbing-type peas 2 to 3 inches apart in any formation that fits your garden. Bush-type peas will need more room, so plant 2 to 3 inches apart in rows that are 18 to 24 inches apart.
Climbing-type peas will require something to grow up. The more the plants have to cling onto, the happier they will be. Peas will grow up a fence or lattice, and there are numerous trellis designs as well that can be store-bought or home-made. Chicken wire, cattle panel and even string on supports in a directly upright or A-shaped formation all work well.
Climbing-type peas will require something to grow up like this pea trellis made from a cattle panel.
Types & Varieties of Peas
Shelling peas — the type that comes in cans or frozen — have inedible pods. They are also known as English peas or garden peas.
Snow peas are the ones with flat, tender pods that are picked before maturity and barely-there peas. It’s the sweet, crunchy edible pod that’s really what this type of pea is all about. You often find snow peas in stir-fry dishes with other vegetables.
And then you have the best of both worlds with snap peas, also known as sugar peas or sugar snap peas, where both the pod and peas are equally delicious. These are the ones you pick from the vine and hope you don’t eat them all before making it to the kitchen.
Peas pods are most often a shade of green, with green or yellow peas, but there are purple varieties as well to give an edible garden an early splash of color.
Peas come in a variety of colors. While most are green, there are some that are yellow and even purple. (photo: Amy Prentice)
Avalanche is a highly productive and sweet snow pea with dark green pods on compact, semi-leafless plants. While most pea varieties grow one pod per node, Avalanche grows two.
Canoe is a shelling pea with a dozen or so peas per boat-shaped pod. It matures in 70 days.
Cascadia is a snap pea variety designed for the Northwest. The short vines — just 32 inches — yield an abundance of dark green 3½-inch juicy, sweet pods.
Lincoln is an heirloom shelling pea that matures in 70 days and is known for being sweet with 3-foot vines and 6 to 8 peas per 3-inch pod.
Maestro is a shelling pea with 4.5-inch pods with between 9 and 12 peas per pod. They are ready to harvest in 61 days.
Mammoth Melting Sugar is a prolific heirloom vine-type snow pea that grows 4 feet tall for 4-to-6-inch pods in 68 days.
Oregon Giant is a large-podded snow pea with high resistance to Fusarium wilt, pea enation mosaic virus, and powdery mildew. Its days-to-maturity is 60 days.
Royal Snap II is a purple-podded snap pea with pods up to 3 inches and short vines up to 24 inches. It matures in 58 days.2
Sugar Ann is a sugar pea that matures in just 51 days. It is a bush-type with 20-inch white-flowered vines that may be grown with or without support.
Wando is a garden pea that is more tolerant of heat than the typical pea. It grows on vines 2 to 3 feet tall and matures in 68 days.
In addition to being delicious, homegrown peas produce beautiful flowers that come in different colors depending on variety. (photo: Amy Prentice)
Watering Peas
Water infrequently, but deep. An inch of water a week is the goal. If it has rained any less than an inch in a week’s time, make up the difference with supplemental irrigation. Water under the foliage, right at ground level. (Overhead watering leaves the fruit and foliage wet, which invites disease.)
A 2-inch layer of organic mulch such as shredded leaves or straw will help keep the soil cool and moist.
For a summer-planted crop, water even more frequently to reduce stress on the plants while temperatures are still warm.
Organic mulch such as shredded leaves or straw will help keep the soil cool and moist for peas.
Fertilizing Peas
Peas, like all legumes, produce their own nitrogen with the help of bacteria. Therefore, peas don’t require supplemental fertilizer, but they do enjoy rich, biologically diverse soil.
Applying compost at planting time increases microbial activity in the soil. When planting in poor soil or in a new garden, peas can also be treated with an inoculant to increase the presence of nitrogen-fixing bacteria on roots for more vigorous plants.
Pea Pests & Diseases
Peas are low-maintenance when it comes to pest and disease care. The diseases that do arise, like Fusarium wilt or mosaic virus, may stunt growth but rarely kill plants before heat or a hard frost does.
The most common problem is powdery mildew, a fungal disease that can affect pea pods and foliage. Proper spacing of plants to provide air circulation can stop powdery mildew from becoming an issue. A solution of baking soda or diluted milk can slow the spread or be used as a preventative measure, but it cannot eliminate powdery mildew. (Read my comprehensive guide to powdery mildew control for more.) If powdery mildew is a consistent problem, choose a resistant variety.
While peas are low maintenance and have few pests, be on the lookout for diseases that do occasionally arise.
Harvesting Peas
Take note of the days to maturity at planting time and set a reminder. Peas should be picked promptly for peak sweetness. Left on the vine too long, they will lose flavor and the pods will become stringy. After that first harvest, the vines will continue to produce until the summer heat becomes too much for them, or in the case of a fall crop, when a hard frost kills them.
Shelling peas are ready to harvest once the pods have grown to their full length and have plumped up, but before the peas start to bulge.
For snow peas, watch the pod length to determine when they are ready. Pick before the peas inside develop much.
Snow peas have flat, tender pods that are picked before maturity.
Snap peas should be picked when the pods and peas are full and plump. Pick a pod and bend it in half. If it snaps, they’re ready.
Though peas are best enjoyed fresh, if refrigerated right away after picking, they will last up to a week.
Snap peas should be picked when the pods and peas are full and plump. (photo: Amy Prentice)
What are your secrets to successfully grow peas? Let us know in the comments below.
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Links & Resources
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Episode 045: Succession Planting: Practical Tips for Growing More Food
Episode 094: How to Start and Care for Seedlings Indoors: My Steps for Success
Episode 106: Livestock Panels: Top 10 Uses in the Garden for This Versatile Material
Episode 122: Fall Vegetable Garden Success: Best Plants and Tips for Cool-Season Growing
Episode 179: Plant Partners: The Science-based Benefits of Companion Planting, with Jessica Walliser
Episode 195: Identifying and Controlling Garden Pests Organically
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Herbs?
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Strawberries?
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Cabbage?
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Onions?
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Artichokes?
joegardener How Do I Grow Brussels Sprouts?
joegardener How Do I Grow Peppers?
joegardenerTV YouTube: Best Mulch for a Vegetable Garden
joegardenerTV YouTube: Seed Germination – Easy Tricks for More Success
joegardener blog: Powdery Mildew Prevention & Control
joegardener Online Gardening Academy™: Three popular courses on gardening fundamentals; managing pests, diseases & weeds; and seed starting!
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Master Seed Starting: Everything you need to know to start your own plants from seed — indoors and out.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Beginning Gardener Fundamentals: Essential principles to know to create a thriving garden.
Disclosure: Some product links in this guide are affiliate links, which means we would get a commission if you purchase. However, none of the prices of these resources have been increased to compensate us. None of the items included in this list have any bearing on any compensation being an influencing factor on their inclusion here. The selection of all items featured in this post and podcast were based solely on merit and in no way influenced by any affiliate or financial incentive, or contractual relationship. At the time of this writing, Joe Lamp’l has professional relationships with the following companies who may have products included in this post and podcast: Rain Bird, Corona Tools, Milorganite, Soil3, Exmark, Greenhouse Megastore, High Mowing Organic Seeds, Territorial Seed Company and Wild Alaskan Seafood Box. These companies are either Brand Partners of joegardener.com and/or advertise on our website. However, we receive no additional compensation from the sales or promotion of their product through this guide. The inclusion of any products mentioned within this post is entirely independent and exclusive of any relationship.
0 Responses to “How Do I Grow Peas?”
Green peas need good drainage in soil that is high in organic material. They generate earlier in sandy soil, but yield a heavier, later crop if grown in clayey soil. Plant green peas directly in the garden 2 inches deep and 1 to 2 inches apart. Don’t let the soil dry out; green peas need ample moisture. Fort Collins Roofing Company