Well, I've only tried the last two years, but both experiences weren't successful.
2 years ago I got snap peas and cow peas starts from the nursery, but both were drained by black aphids before I could gets controls in place.
Last year I tried Oregon Giant Snow Peas from Terrirorial Seed Co. Things started out okay, but the plants very really took off, and ran out of steam before any blooms.
I'm ready to go again. This year I got some pease from my mother in law, Sugar Snap and Cascadia. I also got Lincoln Garden Peas. Any tips for better crops?
Peas - I can't seem to grow 'em
What is your soil like? How are you preparing the planting bed (what type of amendments) and what are you using as fertilizer, if any, once you have planted them?
The native soil is pure adobe clays. I have the garden in raised beds (about 14") with soil and compost, so the roots have to go deep to get the clay. I previously ammended with Territorial Seed's Vegetable dry fertilizer according to the package directions.
There's only 2 years of single-season growth on the soil. I added more compost in January, since I make alot of that on my small farm just keeping things clean. I haven't done any subsequent fertilizing after planting.
Howdy mimithro...
Sounds like we're talking about two different kinds of "peas" here. You mention getting starts of snap peas (a cool weather crop) and also cowpeas (a warm weather crop). I'm surprised you found starts of either of them but I am more and more seeing plants that were once sowed insitu now being offered (okra comes immediately to mind).
I'm not familiar with your zone/climate but I wonder if you are planting the snowpeas early enough. They prefer cooler weather and stop producing (or refuse to produce) when air temps are high. The lack of blooms could be attributed to an excess of nitrogen in your soil as well as high temperature, causing buds to fall of.
As for the cowpeas, in high temperature they should be in hog heaven! Er, uh, cowpea heaven!
I'd recommend planting your garden peas/snow peas/ etc 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date; that will give them the cooler weather they prefer. Once those have gone by the ground and air temps will be very much warmer and you can then successive plant your cowpeas.
Hope this is helpful (cus I love peas and cowpeas!).
Shoe
The same nursery selld starts of corn too! I found the starts of cowpeas there, the snap peas I tried from seed, but I didn't get them in until April last year.
I'm all seeds now. I think you're right about starting the snap peas too late. I think we've aleady had our last frost, but the weather doesn't get hot here until June. Maybe if I get them in this week, I will have some better luck.
Thanks for the advice.
Yep, might be worth a try. And some variety of peas are more heat tolerant than others (but are not snow peas). "Garden peas" (shelling peas) such as Wando come to mind as being one of them.
Shoe.
Shoe - no one told me how fast pea starts grow - at this rate I will need to buy another "la casa doublewide" before the ground thaws enough to set them out!
LOL! I find tem to be very house-friendly, too! Nothing more cool than growing veggies indoors when it's down-right brutal outdoors.
Oh my...Dyson, hope you can thaw out a piece of ground soon. Course now, many varieties of peas have new growth/tendrils that are great in stir-fries, sautee's...maybe if your pea plants grow too much topgrowth you can start pinching them off and throwing the "pinches" in your fry pan.
Shoe.
Thanks for the tip shoe, the beds are frozen solid here. I tried to pull some carrots to go into a stew and had to break out digging implements cause I was getting nowhere with using my bare hands.
Hope for warm wx soon.
Shoe (or anyone else), I plan on doing some snap peas this year(planting seeds while watching Daytona 500). When they stop producing when the warm weather hits, do you pull out and add to compost, or do you leave the same one in place for a second harvest in fall? Plenty of seeds, so either way is easy enough, I guess. If left in place, can you overplant with the cowpeas, or should they have their own area? Thanks. (Oh yeah, our last frost date is Mom's day)
When snap peas or English peas stop producing they are finished. You can pull and compost or till them in place as a green manure. You can then plant southern peas or any warm weather crop.
When mine are finished producing, I cut the vines off just above the soil, and allow the roots to continue living, with the micro-organisms still producing nitrogen. I then simply stick in my transplants (pepper, maters, whatever).
Occasionally a pea vine will grow back in the fall, too.
vadap, you could follow your peas with beans, which is what I heartily recommend. If you're growing on a pea trellis and it is a good'n you can plant pole beans and let them run up that, picking beans all summer! If you are planting your sugarsnaps on twig/sticks they won't support pole beans so I'd recommend planting either your cowpeas or bush beans. Bush beans and cowpeas won't produce all summer but you'll get quite a good picking (for a few weeks if the weather cooperates). And after picking the bush beans/cowpeas you can till everything under and maybe have time to put in some brassica plants (broccoli, cabbage, kale, etc). (The 'planting of the brassica' will be determined by your length of growing season, temperatures, etc. I am not familiar with how long your growing season is, sorry.)
Shoe
Thanks for all your replies. Can get a frost in late Sept., but usually the killer frost in late Oct. I was picking zucc's in late Oct. last year. The past couple of years have been a little strange weather wise around here. Was leaning more towards the cowpeas, as I love them, but have never grown them.
Yes, you should apolagize, 'shoe - we expect you to know EVERYTHING!!!
You folks are truly a storehouse of knowledge. I am so looking forward to branching out this season thanks to everyone here.
You're the best!