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Thursday, April 7, 2011

The peas are alive

The peas that I sowed on March 19th (because I read somewhere that peas are traditionally sown right after St. Patrick's Day; also, it was a nice warm-ish day on March 19th) have finally germinated after nearly two weeks.  I took this picture last Saturday (4/2/11).


I recently read on other garden blogs about some of the more experienced gardeners soaking their peas in either plain water or Vitamin C water before sowing them.  I didn't know about any of this, so I sowed dry peas straight out of the seed envelope.  Fortunately, I had really good germination - over 95%, I think.  Yes, it did take almost two weeks for these peas to germinate, but I think that had more to do with the cold freezing temperatures right after my sowing day, and less to do with the fact that the peas were dry.  I do remember from last year that the dry peas germinated relatively quickly (3-5 days) under "normal cool" temperatures.

I did not have much luck growing peas in Indiana last year (on the other hand, the peas I sowed in my mom's California garden thrived all fall/winter/spring long).  The spring peas were planted too late to have enough cool weather to grow, and the fall peas were obliterated by cutworms.  This year, I have high expectations for these peas.  I'm growing a few different varieties of sugar snap peas and snow peas.  I planted two rows of them across one of my raised beds - that's two 12-foot rows of sugar snap and snow peas.  Hopefully they will all grow well and give me more than a handful of peas.

15 comments:

Robin said...

I defintely think that it was the cold weather that we have been having. My peas are just starting to show and I planted on the 22nd. They don't usually take this long. Hopefully I will get to plant the peas at the plots tomorrow...it was very damp and cold until late this afternoon.

Here's to a great pea harvest!!!

Vic said...

Looks like you're on your way to homemade pea soup! Do you remember Pea Soup Andersens?

Ashlee said...

My peas are growing as well! I am so relieved! I too was sucked into the St Patrick's day lore of pea planting... Next year, I will just sow them later and not worry so much!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I ususlly plant my peas in March, too. The ones I have in so far haven't come up yet. I used to try to use innoculant (sp?) powder on them, but always forget to. I don't remember if I've ever soaked them. I did read on the sweet pea package to soak them. They swelled up nicely. I hope they come up. The seeds are 2 years old.

Enjoy seeing your pea plants grow!

Vegetable Garden Cook said...

I live in the Pacific Northwest, and in January we had a brief warm spell, so I soaked some seed and planted it. They are a couple of inches tall now.

This may help explain chitting pea seeds: http://www.mysuburbanhomestead.com/pea-seed-planting-tip/

Jody said...

Like so many others we planted in late March, and just today I saw 3 or 4 tiny buds pushing through the dirt. We're not expecting the 95% growth rate you're having, but it makes us more hopeful. Isn't the great thing about planting to soon that you can plant again later?

thyme2garden said...

Robin - a great pea harvest would make me so happy this spring!

Vic - these are all sugar snap and snow peas, so I'm not sure that I'll be making any pea soup. Maybe next year I can venture out and grow some shelling peas.

Tiny Gardener - yay for your peas!

Sue - I hope your peas aren't too far behind mine!

Vegetable Garden Cook - I hope your peas continue to grow well!

Jody - That is certainly one of the benefits of early planting! I got stung last year by planting my spring peas too late (around late April or early May, I think), so I made sure to plant them early this year.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Those babies look fat and healthy. Hope you have many peas to pick this year. We planted climbing varieties last year. But want to try the bush type too this year.

Megan said...

You should have LOADS of peas with that amount planted! I've never remembered to soak mine before planting either... and they do just fine anyway...

Erin said...

Congrats! Mine took so long that I was afraid the birds ate them all but finally they were all up :)

RandomGardener said...

I planted around the same time too, but it was covered in snow until a week ago. Haven't seen any growth yet(:

Yours look great! I might plant some more.

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