i’m getting ready to sow peas for a fall crop, but concerned that with daytime highs around 90, the soil may be too hot for them to germinate.
Is this an issue?
Yes it is
Sprout them inside, then plant deep and water cold
There’s no way I can sprout that many inside. I’m trying to plant 3 20-foot rows.
We do peas here for a summer crop for food plots where we hunt deer and they always get planted when the soil is quite hot and the germination rate is still very high. I just planted Corn, Kidney beans, cucumbers, sunflowers, amaranth and sorghum and they are all doing very well. I sowed them in 90 degree heat in the ground and they are doing well actually…
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May I ask you, are you selling them? Because if not, I really don’t know what you going to do with 60’ of peas(unless you can or freeze them). I had 8 feet row this year, they grew 7’ tall and it was a lot, much more we could it fresh.
Maybe I suck at growing them, but I had 3 20 foot rows this spring, and never got enough at one time to outpace what we ate fresh.
Shelling peas, not snap BTW.
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Bryan, where are you located? I’ve had success growing snow peas in the fall, but the only success I’ve had with shelling peas (I’m talking about garden peas/English peas) has been in the spring (and I’ve had not infrequent crop failures then.) I’m zone 7 NC.
Maryland. Near Baltimore. Also zone 7, albeit perhaps slightly earlier fall cooldown than you.
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They’re honestly barely worth it in my location, but I have a picky family, and it’s the only thing I grow that everybody in the house will eat, so I feel like they’re worth trying anyway.
They’re awfully good out of the freezer still. I haven’t done a comparison, but I’m not sure I’d even be able to tell the difference between fresh and frozen. So I try to grow everything I want in the spring. They sure aren’t as productive or reliable as summer peas, but the taste is totally different, and we do really like them.
Planted my fall peas today, after germinating them inside
2 rows - 1 shelling and 1 snap
Now We Shall See if they come up. Fall peas are a crapshoot here - they’re best as a spring crop. And the rabbits devour them.
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They’re better in the spring here, too. The issue was we had such rainy weather in late May and early June that about half of the crop rotted.
My first planting froze in the ground this spring and rabbits preyed on the 2nd. Not the best year, but they’re very welcome.
I planted fall sugar snap peas for the first time this year. They germinated fine, but the striped ground squirrels or whatever they are have eaten most of the small plants. I have chicken wire up, plus electric woven fence, but they tunnel under it. I set out JAWS rat traps by their holes and caught six of them, but they just keep coming.
I had good luck planting some fall peas a couple of weeks ago, before that Bermuda high on the East Coast gave us all those rain showers. I’m not very confident about the peas I sowed a few days ago. I’m sure they’re just going to rot in the ground. I might try your suggestion and sprout some indoors, and plant those where the most recent bunch went.
Pre-sprouted fall peas came up rapidly, both rows growing well under hoops and netting to deter damnsquirrels [who are apparently too busy on the pears to notice]
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