Peas - how do you grow yours?

[Teds Mum]

I've never had much luck with peas but am still determined to try, to date there are three trays of seedlings growing away in my greenhouse and I now need to go build a support to plant them against.

Help me please - what support method has worked best for you?

[Small pumpkin]

I do a short ( about 4ft ) wigwam of canes with net round them.



Not the best photo but you get the idea.
I'm very lucky I don't have to use that horrible green plastic pea netting because I have a stash of industrial fishing net. Which is brilliant for the job and very reusable

When I plant out they get planted through pop bottles ( top & bottom cut off ) that are slightly stuck into the ground. Help prevent mice / voles eating them.
I find this works very well as long as the plant is already taller than the pop bottle when planted. A bit of the plant already sticking out the top. They seem to just rot away if are smaller than the pop bottle collar.

[Thelma Sanders]

I do mine this way, with canes and wire netting...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ukIsfaazcY

[nickdub]

I cut some twiggy branches out of the hedge - plant out the peas, which are now in trays - then push the twiggy stuff in either side of the peas so that the branches slope inwards towards the center - let the peas grow up through the supports

I'm pretty mean, so the free option is my first choice.

[Penellype]

The green posts are metal, but you could use thick bamboo canes. I secure the mesh to the posts with cable ties. The mesh is 1m high and there are 2 1m pieces together here, but you can easily use one long piece. I find a stake about every 2ft works best - 1m is a bit far between stakes and the mesh can start to sag. I like to secure the peas further by tying a length of strong string about half way up the mesh once the peas grow tall enough - a 2nd string is sometimes required if they grow up to the top of the mesh (depends on variety).

The sloping bamboo canes in the picture had been supporting a piece of polycarbonate which was protecting the peas from the cold - this photo was taken on 1st May 2018.

[Gillykat]

I do mine this way, with canes and wire netting...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ukIsfaazcY

Thanks for posting this video Thelma I remember watching this a few months ago and thinking ''I must do my peas this way next year'' I'm going to give it a go and see how it works.

My first year on the allotment I just grew some Hurst Greenshaft up a basic wigwam of six cane poles tied with twine at the top and twine wrapped around the canes atvaryibg eves for the peas to grip onto. Had a good crop too.

[bario1]

I use the tops of last year's raspberry canes to give them something to grab onto when they're planted out, and stop them flopping over. Eventually they find the netting (I'm using metal mesh frames from old windows this year) and off they go. I have to remember to net them as soon as they're planted out this year, as last year blackbirds nipped all the growing tips off them and I lost the lot.

[Gillykat]

I have to remember to net them as soon as they're planted out this year, as last year blackbirds nipped all the growing tips off them and I lost the lot.

I learnt that the hard way in Year 2. Had my peas growing lovely in pots in the greenhouse, hardened them off and planted them out around a wigwam. Went home for lunch and when I came back just over an hour later the neighbour's ornamental Fantail pigeons had annihilated the lot! Had to start off a second batch but these ones had a chicken wire fence put around them and grew on well

Funnily enough on my plot it's not the wild pigeons from Hulne Park next door nor the various voles and wood mice on the plot that cause the most bother....it's the neighbour's pesky tame pigeons I don't hate them though....they're so pretty and I love watching their antics and hearing them cooing away....I just have to make sure I put barriers around anything that may be tempting to them

[Teds Mum]

Birds have decimated my peas before - we have a colony of sparrows, baby sparrows are very fond of pea shoots.

[Miss Mousetrousers]

I only grow sugar snaps but the principle is the same. I used to use bamboo canes but found they tend to bend, so I got some strong green plastic canes from a farm and garden shop which I will use this year. To support the growing peas I use clematis netting from Wilko or wherever I can find it at a cheap price and it lasts quite well, plus picking the pods is easy. My netting is laid out on the bed then I insert a cane in and out of every third hole until I reach the bottom then I push the cane into the soil and repeat the process. After I've planted my peas I use a piece of garden twine or string and loosely loop it around the stems and the netting to encourage them to get a hold.
.

[bario1]

Maybe it was sparrows wot ate my peas... or pigeons (although they would have made more of a mess i think) - anyway, lesson learnt!

[Aberdeenplotter]

cordon style up 8ft canes

[Mr Bones]

Two posts with stock fencing between and plant either side with peas. Two sections are put up in the brassica arch and when the peas are done we remove the fencing and plant up with kale.

[Teds Mum]

Thank you all for your ideas. Based on freely available building materials we went with canes and chicken wire as the peas we are growing are only supposed to get upto a metre tall.

[burnie]

In a word badly is how mine grow, poor germination(and I don't have mice or voles in my raised beds, just poor germination) then the Sparrows feast on the plants when the fleece comes off and netting only slows them down. I get a crop, but not much of one and I do so like going round the garden munching them straight from the pod(few make it into the kitchen lol).