Can you define 'taking forever'? In other words how long ago did they germinate and what size are they now?

A lot of folks think their peas are growing too slowly when it's perfectly normal for spring planting.

I've had them in the ground for over a month. They are starting to form peas(appear stunted), but no new growth.

how tall are they? Bearing peas within a month isn't slow, but if the plants are stunted along with the pods it may be one of zillions of diseases affecting peas.

If the plants are 12" or so tall it might just be the variety, not all grow as tall as some others. Sometimes a portion of the pods simply don't reach full size, I don't know why this is, but in my garden it is only a small percentage of pods and the rest grow to normal size.

I feel you pain and went through the same thing a few years ago until I got some advice from here.

I was told, and have been doing ever since, that you should soak your pea seeds in a cup of water over night before planting.

I also coat my seeds with innoculant before planting. I'm not sure if that's supposed help in germinating or growth, but I do it anyway.

Hope this helps,
Bart

bob47

I harvested about a quart of snow peas yesterday, the first picking, and froze them. This morning I saw a few more that I either missed yesterday or that filled out overnight. We did have rain. My other pea patch is garden peas, and they're getting ready but aren't quite large enough to pick yet.

I planted those danged peas on February 2 and it took two weeks for them to break through the soil on the 16th. It's now way past the listed days to maturity for both of them, but they are finally producing something.

Just hang in there. Like love, you can't hurry peas, you just have to wait!

Anney (and others),

I too have found peas take seemingly forever to germinate in the spring. I think if you look up optimal germination temperatures for 'cool season' crops you will find that with the exception of lettuce, almost every one of them germinates poorly or slowly in cool soils.

I used to think it quite odd that a plant grew best in cool air, but did poorly in cool soil. I mean, how could such a plant survive in nature with those requirements?

Then it dawned on me. These aren't really 'cool season' plants, they are 'fall season' plants. In other words, they do best when germinated in warm soil and grown out in cool air.

Thankfully there is an easy way to replicate nature. Germinate the seeds indoors and immediately plant them outside. A very simple, reliable and fast way to do this is the 'baggie method'. Take a wet coffee filter or paper towel, wrap the seeds inside and put in a zip lock baggie and place somewhere warmish (normal room temp). Germination occurs quickly in such conditions and as soon as it takes place the seed/plant can be put in the ground, no hardening off necessary since it hasn't yet acclimatized to the warm, low light conditions.

This is easier said than done with some plants like carrots whose seeds are so tiny, but for peas it's a piece of cake.

JAG

You may indeed be right about peas doing much better as a fall crop, though I've never considered it! And maybe soaking them overnight speeds up their spring germination by several days -- at least it's relatively warm.

This was my first year with peas and I germinated them indoors on wet paper towel and cookie sheet (because I had read somewhere that they like 70ish degrees to germinate). The germination was still highly variable with some seeds germinating in a few days and some still taking a few weeks. Once I had the germinated seeds in the ground, it still took a few weeks for many of them to break the surface. I think I got most of them in the ground right around the third week in Feb. Early growth was still very slow but the last month or so they have been going gangbusters. Some of them are even growing over the top of the trellis I put in for them (4 foot trellis and a variety that's supposed to get only 25-30 inches tall). The last three weeks or so there have been tons of flowers and the pods have set in in good numbers in the last week or so. My daughter and I will share the first peas from the first pod today when I get home from work (yes, I'm writing this from work).

By the way, how do you get one pod that is so far ahead of the rest? How'd that pollination work?

Steve

OK, that's 2 votes for pre-planting germination. Count me in for next year!

I planted in the ground last year and did OK but this year I planted each pea in a bathroom cup and planted outside when they were about 6-8 inches long. I had success both ways but I didn't have to worry about birds digging up the seeds or the seeds rotting in the wet ground. In both cases I put them out very early and they went through frost and freezing temps several times. They seem to grow slowly when it is cold, but the changing temps don't seem to bother them at all. I live in northern Oklahoma and mine are in full bloom right now.

Gotta chime in here. Yes, it's true that peas want to sprout in the warmth and grow in the coolness, which is a tall order for most of us. But if you grow in raised beds your soil is a bit warmer, and then add a layer of plastic over your bed and BOOM - germination occurs. Then whip that plastic off of there and let 'em go! Just another suggestion for how to make the magic of pea growth occur.
Also want to note that I had never used pea innoculant before this season. Planted one bed of my usual Sugar Sprints without innoculant, then a separate bed of Dwarf Grey Sugar with innoculant, and I must report vastly superior germination rates in the innoculated batch, PLUS they germinated at a much quicker rate, so I may finally be sold on innoculant. I did not pre-soak anything, for what it's worth.

I think it is something of a myth that peas should be a very early Spring crop. In the information linked below from the University of Minnesota, note that it takes peas 36 days to germinate at 41°F.

At that temperature, spinach takes 23 days. Lettuce only requires 14 days at 41°.

Even at 50°F, lettuce and turnips (& probably many Asian greens) are about a week quicker than peas.

Another near-myth is the value of early, early plantings of potatoes. Temperatures below 48°F significantly delays sprouting. Temperatures in the 40's are considered "storage" temperatures. What is it we are expecting of spuds when they are placed in such cold soil?

another Steve's digits

Here is a link that might be useful: Days to Germination for Vegetable Crops at Various Temperatures

I live in Southeast Alabama. I planted two 50' rows of 'Green Arrow' English peas, in the ground, on February 9th. They started sprouting on February 16th and it took several days for them all to sprout. The last four or five days I've harvested two and a half one gallon buckets of unshelled English peas. I don't know if that's average or not, it's been so long since I've grown them. I'll probably get a little more of them. The temperatures have been in the 90's last couple of days here and they aren't lookin' real good right now.

I've always taken the pea seeds, and put them in water - keeping it inside, someplace room temperature, draining and refilling it for a few days until they sprout. Once 40% or so show growth, I stick them in any ground above freezing.

I don't think that I've ever had a single pea not produce a shoot with this method - I don't even plant any for insurance, so I don't need to thin. I do always keep a few back and stick them in a cup with vermiculite or potting soil to refill the inevitable gaps the birds will create, and I usually wind up planting any extra of those in a hanging basket near the kitchen.

The best way I know to get a consistent, great crop of peas is to buy the seed in bulk - many outfits sell it in 1/2 lb @ 1 lb quantities - $6 to $10. Then I dig out a 1" deep furrow, and plant the seed to the point they're almost touching - Cover with soil, soak, and wait. The peas sort it out, but in any event, the vines will fill the available pea environment with peas. I use vertical cattle panels and let them climb up that.

The soil temperature thing is certainly true - if it isn't warm enough, it isn't going to happen. I routinely plant mine 2 or 3 weeks after everyone else around, and they all come up at the same time.

My trials with fall crops of peas have been disappointing. And with other plants at the peak of their growth, I pretty much have no room for the dang things.

I have found that the peas will usually sprout during a warmer than average week at least 2 weeks after planting - if planted after all the ice is out of the ground. And there is always that warmer than average week that is warm enough.

Personally, I think the slowness of peas is more a commentary on our impatience for the first harvest, than anything else.

Yes, I think peas don't like to grow in cold weather, but they can do it, so we figure they must like it. But they end up growing excrutiatingly slowly.
I soak my peas under a wet paper towel on a plate until I see the root begin to develop and pop out, which takes about 3 days. Then they go into the garden and don't sprout for another 3 weeks.

I live in pea paradise I guess. All I have to do is pop them in the ground in a raised bed and almost all of them sprout. They are my most trouble free and reliable crop.

My main problem with peas for years has been BIRDS. Cross your fingers that they will be safe this year. I have rigged up all sorts of bird netting. One year TWICE I had to lift up the bird netting to let a bird OUT. Had managed to wiggle under somehow but couldn't get out. Thought about clubbing it and leaving it there dead as an example to the other birds, but am too much of a bird lover. Some birds love pea plants and eat them all up.

I used to blame rabbits, but one day I sat in a chair under a tree after surgery, read and watched the garden all day. It was starlings snipping off and wolfing down my baby pea plants. Also, if your seed gets too old you won't get good germination. I used the soaking in water for hours first method and that seemed to have worked pretty well. My peas were planted on Earth Day and are about an inch tall now.

Marcia

Best way to grow peas?

I think anything worth doing is worth doing to excess. And that includes peas, and tomatoes, cukes, peppers... anything except zukes of course!

My peas are currently the best looking thing in my garden. Planted them a month ago and they're about 6" now.

Just in time for the 100 degree temps on Friday.

Bah.