Other folks on this site have also complained about poor pea germination, so you might not be alone and it might not be something you've done.

I'd replant and thin as needed.

Some folks use the paper towel in a plastic bag trick, but give their seeds 3-4 days to see which ones are sprouting before planting.

Join the poor germination club! I sowed Progress #9 shelling peas (pisum sativum from Botanical Interests -- an heirloom and "certified organic" variety) about two weeks ago. This was outdoors. Within a couple of days one emerged with a sprout and was promptly dispatched by a squirrel or a bird or something.

Just this a.m. I have three more sprouts coming up -- this from about 3 dozen peas sown. Not exactly stunning stats.

I have another dozen peas nicked with a serrated knife, in a damp coffee filter in a zip-lock baggie sitting on top of my satellite dish box for warmth. I'm not holding my breath.

I've had the same problem and never could understand why. My grandmother planted peas by direct seeding on Good Friday year after year. She routinely grew a crop of peas in a pretty chilly area of zone 5.

I have used a method I saw one time on the Victory Garden TV show which worked for me. I planted peas indoors in peat pot strips and planted the entire strips shortly after the peas started to grow.

I don't know why that should be necessary. Certainly, farmers do nothing like that. But it worked.

BTW, I do not ordinarily advocate the use of peat pots. I got terrible results when I used them for other crops. Even with peas I suggest tearing them when setting out to allow the roots to escapel

Jim

The few 'Golden Sweet' pea seed I direct sowed a week ago are breaking ground now, it looks like they all germinated. Could it be weather related, the low germination rate some are experiencing?

Annette

I got 3 out of 4 peas planted - maybe only 2 lol, not sure what one is yet! Replanted that 4th one this past weekend, and could not find the pea in there...all peas were pop bottled cloched....