Mangetout plants turning brown!

[sarah_hawky]

Hi guys hope you’re all having a nice Easter despite the restrictions.
Just prior to the lockdown, I got some mangetout seedlings from the garden centre. They had grown very close together and would be impossible to separate without a lot of root disturbance, so I separated them into 5 ‘clumps’ which had 3/4 plants to a clump, then planted one clump per cane (hope that makes sense!)
they’ve been in the ground about a week now, but the lower half of the plants have gone a yellow/brown colour. The top half looks quite healthy (for now!) I’m new to this forum and can’t for the life of me figure out how to attach a photo unfortunately!
Are they failing? Planted too close together due to the clumps? Scrap them and plant some new seeds instead?!
Thanks for any help!

[Jungle Jane]

Maybe they weren’t hardened off & the cold nights affected them a bit. I wouldn’t scrap them,nutrients in lower leaves are used by the new growth so they can go yellow,photos would help but about twelve posts are needed before uploading is allowed but as the new growth looks good that’s what we want. Plant more seeds though,they can be added in gaps.

[nickdub]

I'd say they probably grow, so I'd leave them undisturbed but while this dry warm spell is on they need a bit of water per clump each day as they won't have had time to grow a proper root system yet - peas hate to have dry roots.

Nothing to stop you sowing a few more too if you have the seed of course. I usually chit my pea seed first, as you can get a lot of losses from slugs and/or mice if you sow them direct.

[veggiechicken]

One more thing to add - mangetout and peas will scramble up netting or twiggy branches - they don't twine around canes like beans do.
They also grow to different heights depending on variety, so, if you know what they are, you can put in supports of the right height.

[ameno]

It's foot rot. My peas get it all the time, broad beans, too. Other beans are thankfully unaffected.
It's caused by various bacteria in the soil attacking the roots and the stems near ground level. The stem near soil level goes dark brown or black, and the plant grows more slowly. Some soils have more of these bacteria than others. Plants are also more prone to it if the roots or the stem near groud level are damaged.

I'd leave them for now, as it often isn't fatal, so they should still produce a crop, albeit a smaller one than healthy plants would. You may find some plants will produce a single flush of peas then just die in situ. Don't remove these plants, as the disturbance could damage other plants and encourage further foot rot.

For your next lot of peas, don't plant them in the same place. Put them somewhere well away from them, to prevent the bacteria building up too much.