sweet peas, peas and runner beans

[robmarston]

This might be a bit of a daft question, but I'm thinking of growing my sweet peas up the same wigwams as my runner beans and peas. I thought it would be nice to mix my veg, flowers and scent but it occurred to me they might cross pollinate and I might end up with franken-veg.....I'm guessing this could happen anyway if they are in the same garden - hence my suspicion that this might be a daft question. But for reassurance, will they all be ok together like that?

[darcyvuqua]

I grew them this way last year but I never saved the seeds so it was win win really


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[lottie dolly]

i would not put the sweet peas with the peas,you not want to get the pods mixed up,as for x pollinating i have no idea,

[Fleurisa]

sweet pea pods tend to be furry, edible pea pods are smooth

[Thelma Sanders]

I think sweet pea seeds are poisonous! I put them at the end of bean frames rather than pea frames so they can't get mixed up.

[Nicos]

Apparently....edible peas are still edible if they cross pollinate with a sweet pea...but don't grow those seeds on as their seeds will be toxic.

I looked into this last year as I too was concerned!

[WendyC]

Peas, edible and sweet, climb in a different way to beans. Beans twist themselves around supports and so can climb smooth supports such as bamboo canes. Peas climb with tendrils so need a rough stick or netting to climb up. That may influence your decision.

[JoeDaStudd]

Personally I'd be too scared to eat the peas if they were mixed in with sweet peas.
If you want them to look nice it might be worth looking at different coloured pod or flower colours.

[rustylady]

Edible pea pods and sweet pea pods are completely different - edible pods are smooth, sweet pea pods are furry.

[Alison]

As already said, the pods look totally different and they're different species anyway so not a worry.

[Two_Sheds]

I'm thinking of growing my sweet peas up the same wigwams as my runner beans and peas.

It's a nice idea, but:

a) peas won't grow up canes, they need netting/wire
b) the sweet peas will get horribly tangled in all the foliage and are v.difficult to cut. You miss a few and the whole plant stops flowering

[Thelma Sanders]

They don't grow up the canes themselves, but they cling to the beans which do grow up the canes

It works for me