Pea Frames

[Paul_TT]

Hi I am new to allotment and have just spend a month sorting my raised beds and fertilizing them
I would like to grow peas and mangetout or snow peas
As a first time grower would you recommend seedlings or start from seeds?
Can you please recommend what type of growing frame to buy - I am bemused with he huge variety for sale

Many thanks Paul

[veggiechicken]

Hi Paul and welcome.
Peas and mangetout have tendrils that they use for climbing so they like netting or bushy twigs to scramble up.
Some peas are dwarf varieties and grow only a couple of feet high - Tall peas grow to 6'+ so choosde your variety first then find a climbing structure to match. A few posts hamered in with chicken wire or pea netting stretched between them is the cheap way. Don't go buying a frame if you don't need to!!

Beans grow by twining around canes - they don't have tendrils. The typical crossed stick structures that you see on plots are for beans.

Have a look at this thread for ideas https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...9-a_93190.html

[Penellype]

I grow peas up plastic mesh supported by strong stakes. I find the flimsy pea netting that you can buy is nowhere near strong enough and neither are bamboo canes for support. The plants are quite heavy when fully grown.

These are my young peas and supports on my allotment at the beginning of May:



Each of the rows is 2m long - these 2 rows were slightly too close together and picking the peas was a bit tricky. I sow 10-12 pots of seeds at a time, indoors, 5 seeds to a standard 3.5 inch pot, in 4 batches 2 weeks apart. Each batch does 1m of row and I find this provides a decent supply of peas. Starting the seeds in pots indoors prevents them attracting mice and gets them off to a good start. They go outside into a greenhouse or cold frame as soon as they germinate and be planted out when they start climbing up each other. I don't separate or thin the seedlings - they are fine just planted as they are to make a nice thick row.

[nickdub]

Peas are one of the easiest things to grow from seed and this method is much cheaper than buying plants. My method, when the ground is cold, is to start the seeds inside in a plastic box, lined with damp kitchen paper and placed somewhere warm like the top of a radiator (chitting). Once the first little root starts to show (about 2 or 3 days usually) the chitted peas can then be either sown direct in the ground, or grown on in containers for planting out later. Peas like to get their roots deep down into the soil, so its best to get them in the ground too early rather than too late if you are unsure.

You don't need to start a whole lot of peas at the same time - 2 weeks between sowings is OK.

I like Alderman, it grows over 6' tall though, so I always cut some strong hazel branches from my garden for supports.

[bikermike]

A few things I have discovered (I'm only 5 iterations down the pea learning curve)
1) canes are definitely not enough to work, their tendrils are too thin
2) chicken wire works well, but make sure it's right to the ground or they'll fall away and not get them to attach to it.
3) make sure you grow enough to allow for little furry things to eat half the dang plants...
4) I grew Hurst Greenshaft , they have worked well. Other peas are available.
5) I've had better luck planting them direct in the soil in [April/May?] than starting them in pots, there seems to be a very narrow window between them too small and too leggy if I grow them in the greenhouse first.

Beans are a completely different animal (although #3 still applies)

[Thelma Sanders]

bikermike: there seems to be a very narrow window between them too small and too leggy if I grow them in the greenhouse first.

If they get leggy I just pinch them out, at about 4insthen they make more stems from near the base. I prefer to sow most of them early, because the early sowings 'usually' avoid pea moth damage..

Most reliable/easily available varieties for me are Hurst Greenshaft for plants about 3ft high, and Alderman/Telegraph for plants that grow up to 6-7ft here.

[mcdood]

I plant peas in quite large modules and covered with a propagator lid. If the seeds aren't covered I don't have to worry about what frame as the meeces will have had them away. Also when the plants are growing pigeons are very fond of them so I need protective netting over them too.

[bikermike]

Pea moth is a problem...
I will try the pinching out thing again.

[Penellype]

It might be coincidence but the 2 years that I grew nasturtiums near the peas I got no pea moth, whereas I probably get some pea moth (sometimes lots) 4 years in 5 without nasturtiums.

[roitelet]

I use square sheep netting supported on metal tension rods. Works well.

[Mark_Riga]

I grow hurst greenshaft and will be sowing towards the end of the month. I now use 2ft wire mesh with 31mm size mesh as pigeons round here have become very partial to them. The attached is from early July last year. You can just about see the mesh in this which goes all round the row. The peas grow over the top but that seems to be OK.
A bit dear (£27 for 50m.) but will hopefully outlast me.