Growing Peas

Pisum sativum : Fabaceae / the pea or legume family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
    P P P              

(Best months for growing Peas in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 8°C and 24°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 5 - 8 cm apart
  • Harvest in 9-11 weeks. Pick the pods every day to increase production.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Potatoes
  • Peas in pod
  • Shelling peas
  • Young pea plant

Peas are best grown in cooler seasons. Peas need some support when growing, tree prunings with lots of small twigs are a cheap and handy source. Or else strings between posts or wire netting. Peas need tying in the early stages, until they start producing tendrils and clinging to the support.

Some pea varieties are called 'dwarf' but to make harvesting easier it is a good idea to support the plants.

Pick pea pods while young and pick them often to keep them producing.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Peas

Raw straight from the pod in the garden is best!
Raw in salads.
Steamed lightly.
Small pods can be steamed whole.

Your comments and tips

15 Feb 24, william (USA - Zone 7a climate)
how to grow pigeon peas in zone 7a
15 Jan 24, Jasmien (USA - Zone 9a climate)
When is the latest date to plant sugar snap peas in Tucson 9A and how long until Harvest typically?
03 Feb 24, Dean (Canada - Zone 5a Temperate Warm Summer climate)
Peas are a cools season Crop. So check what the cool season is for your area in zone 9a, and Plant then. I'm guessing (but don't KNOW) That zone 9 has no cool season. Which tells me that Sugar Snaps will be poor at best. UNLESS they have a strain for Florida.
08 Jul 23, Norm (USA - Zone 8b climate)
One thing you don't mention is planting for a second fall crop. Most of us get spring plantings, but it gets trickier for fall planting for snap pea or snow pea varieties. Zones 8a and 8b for example can plant sugar snap peas in mid to late july for fall harvest along the coast where the summers aren't too hot..
26 Jun 23, Clifford Foy (USA - Zone 8a climate)
I PLANTED SOME PIGEON PEAS FROM PUERTO RICO TODAY (JUNE 26,23) I LIVE IN MONROE, GA (ZONE 8A). HOPE THEY GROW AS GOOD AS THEY USED TO GROW IN PUERTO RICO,
15 Jun 23, John (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I’m in a frost prone area. Can I sow peas in July in green house and transplant out in August. Are the flowers damaged by frost
16 Jun 23, (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Peas can indeed be cultivated in a greenhouse and then transplanted. While pea plants themselves can endure frost, their delicate flowers are susceptible to frost damage, hindering the production of a harvest until the frosty conditions have passed
21 May 22, Marion (Canada - Zone 5b Temperate Warm Summer climate)
I am new to ‘veggie’ gardening and would like to know if the ‘whitish’ markings on many of the pods of the peas I planted last year is normal. I also purchased some ‘snap peas’ I love to eat raw from a grocery store, most of which’s outer shells quickly developed ‘white’ patches while being kept in the refrigerator (?). Is this a common ‘pea’ attribute that I’m unaware of? I’d like to grow them again and don’t want to throw out anything if it’s not gone ‘bad’, or possibly just needs some sort of protective ‘spray’ or ‘killer’ from whatever may be causing these ‘mouldy’? like looking patches. Thank you for any answers…Marion
24 May 22, (Canada - Zone 4b Temperate Warm Summer climate)
I don't think many vegetables keep for long times in the fridge. Need to be eaten in a week or so. The whiteness I have seen but don't what causes it - maybe just water content and starting to break down.
07 Sep 21, Mrs Anne Handley (Australia - temperate climate)
I applied pea straw mulch to prepare my north facing veggie patch (I am a total novice) and pea seedlings emmerged a few weeks after. I have transplanted them into pots for noew as they are tiny. What can I do next and will they bear pods?
Showing 1 - 10 of 192 comments

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