Overwintering Mangetout

[Andraste]

I've not grown Mangetout before. I plan to sow in the spring next year but am wondering if it's worth bothering with an 'autumn' sowing?

Carouby de Maussane have tickled my fancy (for the height & pretty purple flowers). They'd have to overwinter in the blowaway as I don't have access to a proper greenhouse & wouldn't be able to adequately cloche/cover at the plot.

Any advice appreciated

[rary]

Never tried doing that myself, though have grown pea shoots in the past over winter, in the greenhouse, last winter I lost the lot, but the temperature was down at -10c. but if the temperature stays high enough its worth a try, possible problems are as said temperatures along with light, but you will never know if you don't try

[Jungle Jane]

Its a good idea,springtime is really busy it’s good to get a head start with some things like peas,broad beans,garlic & onion sets. I’ve sown meteor peas around November direct outside with no protection from weather but a net to climb. The soils still warm in the autumn for germination,they grow a bit before spring & it does give you earlier peas. I think it’s snowed on my peas before,they were fine,they’re quite hard Slugs haven’t been interested with my peas overwinter,they grow well without pests visiting

[mrsbusy]

I might try that - nothing to loose - apart from a few peas. Could put some mulch round them...? Straw ?

[ameno]

Peas are fairly hardy (although it varies by variety), but I'm not sure how much benefit there is to doing this. Peas tend to give a poorer crop if their growth is allowed to stall, which obviously it would over winter. Plus you'd have to time the sowing right, lest they get too big for their pots.

[Jungle Jane]

I'm not sure how much benefit there is to doing this. Peas tend to give a poorer crop if their growth is allowed to stall, which obviously it would over winter. Plus you'd have to time the sowing right, lest they get too big for their pots.

Try it & you’ll understand the benefits of doing this. Early peas Growth doesn’t stall in a bad way,growth just happens very slowly over winter depending on the temperature. Direct sow in November & you don’t need to worry about pots

[Andraste]

Thank you all for the advice I think I'll merge it all together: try a direct sowing, give them something to climb, mulch with straw & be prepared for an epic fail

I'll also have a root around to see if I have some old net curtain that might give a bit of a fleece-type effect to cwtch them up a bit.

I plan to sow some Broadies direct toward the end of October (never over wintered these before either) so am thinking that would probably be the best time for the Mangetout experiment too. There are more seeds in a pack than we need plants so I'll be able to sow in spring without losing anything but a bit of time.

[Snoop Puss]

Douce Provence are a short sweet pea, so nothing like mangetout and not what you're looking for I guess, but you can easily overwinter these. They make for a nice crop in very early spring even if they're not hugely productive because they're so short. Better than nothing, for sure. I've grown them in the past and they've survived minus 10 ºC, very cold winds and even heavy snowfall (though in that case I covered them over with plastic in advance and gave the plastic extra support - just as well as we had 80 cm of snow).

I haven't done this the last few years. No idea why. Will do it again this winter. Thanks for reminding me, Andraste.

[Andraste]

Hi Snoop Puss,

In the absence of our lazy spuds, slim pickings on our broadies, failed PSB & the spring cabbage only feeding the slugs we've felt the absence of earlier crops this year so it's interesting to know you had success with the douce provence. I might give them a try next year if my attempt to overwinter the mangetout fail.

I'm pleased that my question served as a reminder for you

[ameno]

Try it & you’ll understand the benefits of doing this. Early peas Growth doesn’t stall in a bad way,growth just happens very slowly over winter depending on the temperature. Direct sow in November & you don’t need to worry about pots

How much earlier is it, though?

Also, for me at least, direct sowing is completely out of the question. Slugs would eat them all in no time. They wouldn't even last until Christmas, much less spring.

[Andraste]

I have a feeling mine are likely to end up as slug food too ameno - I'm now leaning toward sowing a few direct & a few in pots to edge my bets a bit

[Jungle Jane]

If I sowed November,wrote down a harvest date & also sowed some in the spring & wrote down the harvest date I would know how earlier they produced,I just remember it’s earlier & there’s not much to harvest around that time so it is worth doing if you get time…. I thought I would have had slug damage but they didn’t touch them,maybe they’re just less active in the winter months.

[Andraste]

Even in our short allotment life we've learnt that results don't just vary year to year or from one area to another, they can vary from plot to plot within our site too. One thing's for sure, if I don't sow any to overwinter then they definitely won't grow so I'm up for experimenting

[Nicos]

Always worth experimenting
Let us know how you get on!

[Andraste]

Since my initial question I've had some advice from the longest serving plotter on our site. Mike's been growing on our site for about 45 years or more & is quoted by pretty much all the plotters as having forgotten more than they've ever known about veggies (he also grows prize winning Crysanths) so it's safe to say his advice is worth me listening to.

Mike's informed me that overwintering broadies on our site will fail most years as if they don't rot in the ground they only serve as slug food & there's nothing left of them by spring & he's never known anyone to have any success (so it's not just him/his plots). On that basis I'm no longer going to direct sow any broadies or mangetout direct this year.

I'm not giving up on my overwintering dreams. www.gardenfocused.co.uk informs me that the 3rd week of October is generally the best time to autumn sow broadies in my area so this weekend I'll be sowing a few mangetout & a few broadies in pots which I'll attempt to overwinter in the blow-away at home.

Wish me luck