Growing Peas for the first time. PLEASE HELP.

[stevenariley]

Hello to everyone.

I am new to this site and was wondering if anybody can help me.

I am growing peas this year for the first time. I want to cover them in mesh or fleece to protect them from pests like pea moth etc.

What I don't understand is if I cover them, how will the pollinating insects get to the flowers to do their work??

I presume that the obvious answer would be to remove the mesh when the plant is in flower, but I have read that this is when pea moth attacks.

I have looked everywhere for this answer and I can't find it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Winged one]

Is pea moth a problem in your area? I know I have never covered my peas - either those in my back garden (past 4/5 years now) or those on the plot (only last summer). But I have never had a problem with any insects on them. Probably doesn't help much, but I'd only cover them if there was a problem.

[Nicos]

Hello- and welcome to the Vine Steve!

Peas....not my strong point

http://www.pan-uk.org/Info/Gardening...ne2005Tips.pdf

BBC - Radio 4 - Gardeners' Question Time - Factsheets

As you say- not much info on-line!
Are pea moths nocturnal??
Do they overwinter in the soil??

Most peeps seem to use either nothing or fleece up/fine mesh the plants. Maybe you could just remove the cover when you are on the lottie/garden for half an hour or so? I have done this for my early strawberries to keep the frost off the flowers (2 lots of 1/2 hr per week) and got a huge crop of fruit.
I suppose you'll be trapping some insects under the fleece anyway when you put it back on!

There are some good pea growers on the Vine- it'll be interesting to see what they do Steve!
Good question!

[stevenariley]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Winged one: I don't know if pea moth is a problem in my area as I have only lived in my house for a year and this will be the first time that I attempt to growing any veg.

I kind of just presumed that they were very common, so you would end up getting them if you didn't protect against them.


Nicos: I hadn't thought about the possibility of trapping insects inside the mesh. That is something I will keep in mind. Thanks for the links.

Cheers.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hi Steven, and welcome to the vine!

I grew peas for the first time last year, and had no pest problems (except flea beetle when the plnats were little, but they got over that, and powdery mildew but that didn't seem to be much of a problem either), but here's what Hessayon says in the Vegetable Expert:

"Pea Moth: Maggoty peas are will known to all vegetable growers especially in south England. Pea moth maggots burrow through the pods and into the seeds making them unusable. Early and late sown crops often escape damage."

[SueA]

Hi Steven, I've never had problems with pea moth but have only usually grown early peas & early & late sowings are supposed to miss the height of the 'pea moth' season. The only advice I can find on it is either to cover them with a fine netting (not sure 'how' fine though) or to spray the plants as the flowers die with Derris or insecticide in the evening after bees etc. have left the garden but if you want to grow organically obviously you wouldn't want to do that & Derris is being withdrawn from use also.

[stevenariley]

Hi Steven, I've never had problems with pea moth but have only usually grown early peas & early & late sowings are supposed to miss the height of the 'pea moth' season. The only advice I can find on it is either to cover them with a fine netting (not sure 'how' fine though) or to spray the plants as the flowers die with Derris or insecticide in the evening after bees etc. have left the garden but if you want to grow organically obviously you wouldn't want to do that & Derris is being withdrawn from use also.

When would I cover them though, and for how long?

Am I correct in thinking that peas need to be pollinated by insects to grow pods?

[Flummery]

I only cover my peas very early on - to keep the pigeons off! I haven't suffered from pea moth (neither have my peas!) because I grow them early in the season. I wouldn't get too worried about it.

[SueA]

Hi Steven,
Peas are self-pollinating so you should be O.K. if you cover them with enviromesh or something similar. Bees do cross pollinate peas but they're not necessary for them to set pods .

[Nicos]

There you go...finally an expert on peas!!...Self - pollinating eh? - you learn something every day!

[Two_Sheds]

Pea moth is on the wing May-August, so cover your peas then. UKMoths - Pea Moth Cydia nigricana
We always get pea moth here in Suffolk, they're a ruddy nuisance. Horrible maggotty peas - but usually only one pea in each pod is attacked. I froze the good peas and composted the rest. I figured that freezing would kill any lurking maggots, so I could eat them with a clean vegetarian conscience.

Having said that, my earliest peas last year (Feltham First) were completely unaffected, even without fleece. So the answer is to get your peas into flower and podding before May when the pea moth is around.

[stevenariley]

Hi all,

Thanks very much for your help on this one!! Especially to SueA, I honestly never knew that peas were self fertile.

Thanks again.
Steve.