Can I plant edible peas in with sweet peas?

[Helgalush]

Hi,

I am a newbie, both to this forum and to gardening in general!!

I am trying a few veg container projects from a book I bought recently.

It suggests planting a hanging basket of dwarf edible peas with dwarf sweet peas. I have sourced the exact varieties listed in the book (took me a few good online searches but managed to get some).

However, it says on the sweet pea packet that they are poisonous and everything that I have seen on the internet says they are poisonous, both the seed and the plants.

So my question is: can I actually plant them together as the book says? I do want to eat the peas when they have grown - but dont really fancy eating anything that might be toxic!!! Lol!!

Any advice would be great. At the moment am disappointed as I feel too unsure to go ahead with this particular project and am now doubting the rest of the book which also suggests planting veg with flowers...

Thank you.

Helen

[jacob marley]

Edible pea pods are a lot bigger than sweat pea pods so should not be a problem..jacob

[Helgalush]

Thank you Jacob.

I know this sounds really silly but can the 'poison' get in to the soil and make the edible peas unsafe to eat?

Sorry if that is a really stupid question!!

[beaufontboy]

Hiya, Never knew that........ as last year we grew mange tout with climbing sweet peas, great for pollination and we are still living...... so far .... and they were in a large wooden pot that i made !

[jacob marley]

I would not have thought so but if you pick the sweat pea flowers of as they die down after flowering they will not make pods so end of problem..jacob

[beaufontboy]

actualy think I may have the very same book !

[Jeanied]

Flowers + veg = companion planting. There is a thread on here somewhere about this!
Welcome to the vine by the way, Helen!

Your sweet peas and edible peas will be fine together and no way will you confuse the two (sweet pea pods are small and hairy, for a start!) The bees and other pollinators will enjoy the flowers of both. As Jacob says, don't let the sweet peas set pods because once they do this they think the plant's job is done and stop flowering - bad idea! All peas and beans produce a benefit to the soil in the form of nitrogen fixing nodules on the roots.

[rustylady]

I know this sounds really silly but can the 'poison' get in to the soil and make the edible peas unsafe to eat?

It's not "poison" as such, and can't transfer to other plants. Edible peas have smooth pods, and sweet pea pods are quite furry so you will definitely be able to tell the difference. Also most (not all) edible peas have white flowers. They are also much smaller and less decorative than the flowers of sweet peas. So if you pinch off the pretty coloured flowers from your basket you should be left with edible pea pods. Having said all that, I'm not too sure a hanging basket is the best place to grow peas for eating.

[northepaul]

I asked a similar question to this on the flower forum. The only thing to remember is if you have young ones helping with the garden, they may not realise which pods are which.
Its worth baring in mind

[Helgalush]

Thanks everyone. I feel clearer now about this.

[Two_Sheds]

last year the wind blew my growhouse over and all the pots got mixed up as I tried to recover the mess

that's how I managed to plant peas in the back garden and sweet peas on the lotty.

where the peas & sweet peas were planted together, the growth was so tangled and lush that it was very hard to spot the pea pods among all the greenery, so I'd say either grow a black-podded pea, or grow them separately