For the past 2 years, I have grown the Super Sugar Snap green pea, but with very poor results. They either take forever to germinate, do not germinate at all, or grow slowly and not very vigoroursly at all. I usually plant them around the end of Feb. or by St. Patricks Day here in Washington State, zone 6. Does anyone know of a good variety to plant?
Which variety snap peas?
The best, both in production and taste that I have tried was the first. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/8/index.html. I have not grown many varieties tho. Of the 39 cultivars listed in plantfiles, I have only tried Sugar Ann (did not like it), Sugar Rae (ditto) and Sugar Mel. The original Sugar Snap has a humongous vine that needs to be trellised, but none of the others came close in either production or taste.
Lettuceman, I've soaked them (slightly) before planting in prepared rows. (Not too long or they'll get really soft and rot.) Ground temp, as you probably already know is also a factor...what I've done is break the ground and let it sit a few days or so (shovel/dig/till it), then put out a wide row (about 4-6 inches wide) with the seed nearly broadcasted in that row. The peas can handle being grown pretty close together just fine.
I've also started them in 50-plug trays then set the plants out by hand...works okay but can get time-consuming if you're growing quite a few hundred feet of row! As for variety I just grow the regular sugar snap.
Shoe.
Farmerdill and Shoe, thank you both for your valuable input! Apparently I need to stay away from the "Super" variety and just go with the original sugar snap pea. I will be growing them along a pretty high fence on the perimeter of my garden. I see that Johnny's has them, and I'll likely get my seed from them. Again, many thanks to you both!
Bill