Your plan is exactly right IMO. Planting peas directly in the ground is hit or miss in my experience because the weather is so variable in early spring. Starting them in pots gives them a jump start. Don't grow them inside for very long, just long enough to get them well started. Once they get going they are very hardy. Three per pot is good. They don't mind close spacing.

I once planted peas in April, only to be hit by the heaviest snowfall of the season. An enormous drift of snow developed right over the peas and didn't completely melt for several weeks. Nothing could save that crop.

Jim

Starting pole beans in pots is a good idea; I generally use that method for rare varieties, or for those requiring a long season. And since pole beans give such a large yield per plant, they are worth the extra effort.

But while 3 per pot might work for peas, I'm not sure it would work for beans. The root system of beans is large, and develops very quickly, even before germination. With 3 in a pot, they would likely become rootbound. I generally plant single seeds, using Jiffy-32's for small beans, and 3" pots for the larger beans, runners, and limas.

It should be noted that beans do not like artificial lights, and will become leggy indoors very quickly; so unless you have a greenhouse or other sunny place to keep them, don't start them too early. I start most beans about 10 days before the average date for my last frost, and put them outside (in a solar greenhouse) as soon as they emerge. Transplant them before they develop their first true leaf, or as soon thereafter as possible.

I am very lucky My husband built me a 12x 8 green house 4 years ago. It sure helps here in north Idaho.
I just figured out I'll need 144 pots just to start my 48 foot of pole beans.
But it will worth it, The slugs slowed down my pole beans by a month last year. I'll have to hit them with sluggo and Diamacious earth, and maybe a ring of sand too, even after starting transplants.
Accually I am worried if I ever get the whole 48 foot to produce the way they are supposed to I'll have way to many for us to eat. There is only 2 of us. Good thing I can them and my dogs like them.

I'm confused. (Yeah, yeah, I know. No need to comment on that, guys.)

I see that the thread topic is pole beans. But I read the initial post as being about green peas and that's what I replied about.

Anyway, I've always sown beans directly. If I did start them inside, it would be one plant per pot.

Jim

Hello, veggiecanner! Try that gritty stuff, I think they call it chicken grit, for the slugs. They get all scraped up on the sharp edges and die. Personally, I use "Escar-Go" from Gardens Alive and it works just fine. I just go through alot of it when we have really wet Poconos spring.

Apropos chicken grit. Feed stores sell crushed oyster shells for chickens. Never thought of it before as a slug barrier, but if it works, it should hold up through rains. It's inexpensive too.

Chicken grit is merely small stones that help chickens grind their food in the crop. When chickens free-range, they pick small stones on their own; when they are cooped up or never get out of the free-ranging barn, they need grit/stones from the feed store.

Crushed oyster shells is considered a calcium supplement and is sometimes fed to chickens to help them produce strong egg shells. Another calcium supplement is diatomaceous earth, food grade, not swimming-pool grade. DE is an excellent slug deterrent/killer, but, alas, only when dry. When wet it's ineffective.

The chicken grit I've used for another purpose (ingredient in a bonsai potting mix) is crushed granite. It's very sharp. It comes in two or three sizes. The size I used, called "grower", was about 1/8". For slug control, I think "chick" size, which is smaller, might be more effective. Chicken grit will last longer than diatomaceous earth I think.

Jim

A couple of years ago when the slugs were really bad I caught a bunch of them and put them on a coffee can lid with different ingredients to see how they reacted to it. In other words what would kill them.
I mixed oat meal and salt on trays and traps, this worked the best of all the traps. Better than sprinkling salt all over the ground. Diamacious earth is good too.

Has anybody tried crushed oyster shells for slug control? It would be great to find a waterproof remedy.

Marquette, I have used crushed oyster shells for slug control and for my favorite use, to protect winter bulbs from foraging squirrels. As I plant the bulbs, I line holes with shell and when the rascals dig down, they cut their little paws and leave my bulbs alone. Re: oyster shell vs. slugs, it definitely works. However, I now prefer Escar-Go or Sluggo...it is easy to use, and leaves no residue in the soil.