Help with peas

[Anna Hyndman]

Hi.
As I am a complete beginner to all this I need advice desperarately.
Is it possible to grow Tall Peas under cover eg polytunnel? I have found a variety called 'Tall Telephone' and need to know if it is suitable for this sort of cultivation or if there are any other varieties that I should be looking at?
Thanks.

[Birdie Wife]

I should think that would work fine, as long as bees have access to the flowers to pollinate them. Pretty much anything that grows outside will grow under cover too, the only thing to watch out for is that pests like aphids and whitefly often like the more sheltered conditions too. I've heard of Telephone, it's supposed to be quite good!

[Flummery]

Peas aren't pollinated by insects as far as I'm aware. The central group of petals - the keel - is fused so that insects can't get in. If you try to cross-pollinate peas yourself, you actually have to slit the keel with a scalpel, so you shouldn't have a pollination problem, they self pollinate. The only thing I think might be a problem is powdery mildew if there isn't much air flow. Good luck with them. I like the tall peas - plenty of pods for the area of ground!

[Hilary B]

Yes, peas ARE pollinated by bees and similar. That is why they have flowers! Some flowers are inaccessible to some kinds of pollinators, but I don't think peas are on the 'out of bounds' list for honey bees (sweet peas might be, the ones with very big flowers). I THINK it is the pea family where the bee landing on the front causes the stamen or stigma (depending on just how mature the flower is) to 'dip' onto the bee's back.Nature DOES know what it is doing!