wanted! hassle free pea growing

[Andrew in Cardiff]

hi everyone, i've just bought a pack of 'green sage' peas. i've never grown peas, whats the most hassle free way to grow them?
on the pack it says they are sow direct in flat bottom drills. they grow to about 75cm. can i just plant a bamboo cane in the ground next to each plant once they are established and watch 'em grow, or am i missing the point somewhere can i get away without feeding the ground or would manure be necessary before planting them?(i want to keep costs to a minimum).
cheers
Andrew.

[Digger-07]

Find some twiggy prunings from your local parks dept and push the thick end into the soil along the row. The peas will use this as support and climb away. 1 cane near each plant won't give enough support (I think) to a whole row and anyway canes cost money.

[Snadger]

Peas are a legume so fixate there own Nitrogen!
I had problems with mice and birds pulling the seeds out last year, so this year I have planted peas in plastic guttering filled with compost and set them away in greenhouse. When they are ready to plant out, make a gutter shaped trench and slide them out of the end of drainpipe into trench.!
No root disturbance, no mice or bird problem!
I grow the tall peas Alderman,Ne plus ultra and purple podded (to save my back when picking!)so will have netting for them to scramble up!

[Andrew in Cardiff]

thanks for replies, i have no green house, but have lots and lots of clear plastic containers with holes in the top, so i should be able to put one over every seed planted. my mate is a park ranger for the local council, so maybe i can get a big bunch of thin branches before they put them through the chipper!!
i do like like the drain pipe idea though.

[stigoftheplot]

I start mine off in loo roll middles. Peas have long roots so they have lots of room. All you do is soak the roll so wet when you plant out, dig a little hole & stick the whole thing in.

[borage]

I've got green sage peas - not having much luck getting them to germinate out of 40 sown I ended up with 12.

[Two_Sheds]

I've done my peas 3 ways:
1) in ground (no sign of them yet)
2) in cold greenhouse (4 inches high, good)
3) in ground under bottle cloches (also 4 inches high)

so to avoid transplanting, I will now on put in ground, under bottles (see pic)

[kirsty b]

I've got Greensage too. Had about 50% germination, but when I went to re-sow the blanks, I found some had rotted and some had gone completely so wondering if a few got eaten?


Kirsty

[Andrew in Cardiff]

cheers for replies and photo! can they be grown up bamboo canes alone, or are twiggy branches really necessary?

[Two_Sheds]

bamboos are good for beans, which twine, but peas cling on by lots of tendrils, so twiggy sticks are better. Or netting?

[Andrew in Cardiff]

bamboos are good for beans, which twine, but peas cling on by lots of tendrils, so twiggy sticks are better. Or netting?

yep i'm with you. went an looked at some established peas on an allotment today. i think i've got some thick plastic netting/fencing stuff knocking about, could do the trick if its tall enough.
tar.

[nick the grief]

Peas are a legume so fixate there own Nitrogen!
I had problems with mice and birds pulling the seeds out last year, so this year I have planted peas in plastic guttering filled with compost and set them away in greenhouse. When they are ready to plant out, make a gutter shaped trench and slide them out of the end of drainpipe into trench.!
No root disturbance, no mice or bird problem!
I grow the tall peas Alderman,Ne plus ultra and purple podded (to save my back when picking!)so will have netting for them to scramble up!

Hi Snadger, do you use the bog standard green netting? I've just been given some Show perfection Peas and they go to 6ft and I was wondering what to do with them.

[rustylady]

Nick, it depends what you mean by bog standard green netting. If you mean the pound shop plastic stuff it only lasts a season and then disintegrates. Clematis netting might be a better long term option. Some of the old boys round here still manage to get hold of fishing nets (heaven knows where from, but they do last forever)

[Kimbo]

bamboos are good for beans, which twine, but peas cling on by lots of tendrils, so twiggy sticks are better. Or netting?

I used a bamboo cane at the end of each row with garden string in between pulled tight for the peas to cling to - worked well for me and I just added another line of string the higher up they got. Did this with my broad beans as well.

[nick the grief]

Nick, it depends what you mean by bog standard green netting. If you mean the pound shop plastic stuff it only lasts a season and then disintegrates. Clematis netting might be a better long term option. Some of the old boys round here still manage to get hold of fishing nets (heaven knows where from, but they do last forever)

I did mean that RL. I can see I'll have to get some thread and sit and make nets in the winter I might see if I can get some wire mesh I think then I can just burn it off or I guess I could use the green twine and that will rot any way when I compost it all