Mangetout not growing

[monkeyboy]

When these were indoors, in my propagator, they were growing like crazy. Since I've transplanted them outdoors (about 3-4 weeks ago), they don't seem to be growing much if at all. Some of the plants have developed what look like white flowers.

The plants are about 3-4 inches tall at the moment. Should I just be patient, or is it time to worry?

Peas are Norli and Oregon.

[nickdub]

Something's wrong - not sure what. Whereabouts are you growing them and how are the other plants nearby doing ?

[Jimmy]

I have noticed with plants when you transplant them they spend a while getting their roots working. Then the tops will start to go. Not sure if 4 weeks is too long.
Jimmy

[veggiechicken]

Norli only grows to 24" anyway so its never going to be tall. Oregon 3-4'.
I wouldn't worry as long as the plants look healthy - they'll grow when they're ready.

[monkeyboy]

Thanks. They're planted into my SFG - next to them are Garden Pearl tomatoes.

I thought it might be transplant shock but wasn't sure how long it'd take. Otherwise they look pretty healthy.

[veggiechicken]

You'll need some support for the Oregon peas - netting or twiggy sticks.
Garden pearl is a trailing tomato - if its a square in the middle of the bed it may encroach on its neighbours.

[monkeyboy]

You'll need some support for the Oregon peas - netting or twiggy sticks.
Garden pearl is a trailing tomato - if its a square in the middle of the bed it may encroach on its neighbours.

I had some plastic tomato supports that I bought last year and used once. I set them up in a trellis fashion and added some pea netting from homebase which was a right pig's ear to sort out. But they have support.

Toms are on the edge of the raised bed and I've been trying to keep them away from the peas.

[nickdub]

Thanks. They're planted into my SFG - next to them are Garden Pearl tomatoes.

I thought it might be transplant shock but wasn't sure how long it'd take. Otherwise they look pretty healthy.

OK thanks - the fact that they look healthy and you have other plants doing OK nearby are obviously both good signs - I'm going to disagree with my other commenting friends though - I think 4 weeks is too long at this time of year for lack of growth, when the ground is warm and we've got long hours of daylight.

How did the transplanting go ? - did you need to water the plants when you moved them to their new quarters, and did you give them any fertiliser ?

BTW I'm not saying the pea plants won't grow on, because I think they will, but I'm just wondering whether something happened to stall the growth which you might be able to avoid next time.

[monkeyboy]

How did the transplanting go ? - did you need to water the plants when you moved them to their new quarters, and did you give them any fertiliser ?

All of the plants that I transplanted were watered the day before I transplanted them (to keep the soil moist). Every square in the SFG raised beds that underwent seeding or transplant had:
- soil broken up with hand fork to ensure disimpacted
- added in fresh compost, half a handful of seaweed fertiliser, and a similar amount of perlite
- this was all then mixed together and a well made in the centre
- sides of the pot were squeezed all the way round the circumference to ensure loosening
- this meant that tipping over the pot caused the plant to slide out, and then placed this into the space made in the bed
- small amount of watering the following morning

They've also had liquid feed twice since the transplant (avoiding anything spilling on to the foliage).

[nickdub]

All of the plants that I transplanted were watered the day before I transplanted them (to keep the soil moist). Every square in the SFG raised beds that underwent seeding or transplant had:
- soil broken up with hand fork to ensure disimpacted
- added in fresh compost, half a handful of seaweed fertiliser, and a similar amount of perlite
- this was all then mixed together and a well made in the centre
- sides of the pot were squeezed all the way round the circumference to ensure loosening
- this meant that tipping over the pot caused the plant to slide out, and then placed this into the space made in the bed
- small amount of watering the following morning

They've also had liquid feed twice since the transplant (avoiding anything spilling on to the foliage).

Sounds more or less perfect.

One final thought - do you remember if the 4 or 5 days following your peas being planted out were dry, or do you reckon you had rain for at least an hour or two in that time ? (I know I had a dry patch for a couple of weeks here, which seems odd to remember now, considering how much rain we've had recently.)

[monkeyboy]

As I recall, it was a bit drizzly for a few days before we had a nice long warm summery weather. Even then I watered the plants twice weekly.