Peas, wide drills or rows?

[pigletwillie]

I have my peas (Hurst Green Shaft and Kelvedon Wonder), my 4ft wide bed is prepared and I have pea sticks ready for them to climb over.

There are varying views about either sowing them in narrow drills with the seed planted 2" apart or in wide drills with the seed scattered in them. As the bed is 4` wide I intend to sow 3 rows 18" apart with two rows of sticks for them to climb over.

Is one way better or more prolific than the other. The seed will be sown within the next couple of weeks and covered in fleece until 3-4" high.

[lizzie]

Have planted both ways in the past and have never found any difference. Just plonk them in and i'm sure they'll be fine.

[Johnboy]

Hi Piglet and Lizzie,
Like Lizzie I have tried all manner of different ways of growing Peas. I have found that by sowing in
domino 5's approx 2" in all directions gives as good a yield as throwing masses of them down the trench.
I think that whichever way you do it you will get peas but I feel that throwing down the trench is just wasteful of seed probably better to do domino 5's with double the length of row will give a higher yield. Also if you have difficulties with those little squeaking chappies you can grow under protection in 7cm square pots in Domino 5's or do the same with 4" guttering and plant out as you would sow them direct. I am of the opinion that too many peas down the row doesn't increase the yield by that much.

[lizzie]

You up as well JB? What a bloody night!!! I wish I could get some sleep. I'm too busy planning the lottie and all those little jobs I should have done but can't at the min are going round and round. And my bones are aching. Never mind, will have another brew and a fag.

Anyway, I didn't do a proper answer to Piglet. I plant the peas in a zigzag pattern about 4" between peas. If I feel like digging a drill I will, if not I don't bother, just pop them in the ground.

[Johnboy]

Hi Lizzie,
If we keep meeting like this they will think that our time in the woodshed wasn't as innocent as we make out!!!
I irritate all over at present and bed is simply out of the question.
At present I too have a fag on the got and a cup of tea suitably laced with a drop of the 'Amber Nectar.'
My Father used to grow Peas by preparing the ground then poking the Peas in with his fingers and he always had wonderful yields. I guess like most of our wonderful pastime there are about 100 ways to do the same job.
Sleep Tight.

[Allan]

I hope for your sakes that the mice don't move in and decimate your rows or beds of peas. Long ago I gave up sowing direct for that reason and started them off in modules, planting out in double rows when they were big enough not to attract mice. If you must sow direct then chopped up gorse might keep the mice at bay, some soak in paraffin or diesel, I have never tried that.
Allan

[Geoff G]

Soaking in parafin for a few minutes works for me every time very few peas taken.
Geoff

[Cider Boys]

We always plant our peas using the domino 5 spacings and we now for several years use the same spacing but wider apart for broad beans.

I find they resist the winds better in this format.

I found the information regarding which way to plant beans very interesting and in future will plant them scar down in my garden.

Barney

[Geoff]

I agree that the best way to grow peas is to start them off in containers, I use root trainers. Spacing is more difficult. Since I started using plants I have probably used wider spacings and I think I get a higher yield and healthier plants. With 6” between plants in double rows I get big yields partly because I get less mildew. I only grow Hurst Greenshaft. However the literature I have doesn’t quite support this view. From “Know and Grow Vegetables”:
“Experiments have shown that 6-8 plants per square foot in rows not more than 7” apart are likely to give the maximum yield. Results have been much more variable and unpredictable than with other crops in that occasionally populations as low as 4 per square foot can yield just as well or even slightly better than higher ones. Thus, we can only talk of 6-8 plants per square foot being more often right than wrong.”
“The evidence from experiments is that peas respond to being regularly and evenly distributed and that a succession of pods, as required when the crop is to be picked more than once, is encouraged by lowering the population. Thus, if you want to pick-over your crops it would seem reasonable to aim at 4 plants per square foot and obtain this by sowing in bands of 3 rows each 4½ ins apart with the plants 4½ ins apart in each row.”
You have to remember they discuss yield per unit area not yield per seed / plant. If you have space I would recommend my 6” spacing.

[Guest]

I have grown only tall peas for many years as they outyield the short varieties and give a greater degree of continuity. In the double row I plant at 6" spacing. With 2 peas sown per module I plant as they are, empty modules, rare, are discarded of course. A further tip, it is well known that nitrogen is fixed by the bacterial activity round the pea roots, but this takes time to build up and a nitrogenous foliar feed works wounders in helping the plants to recover from the shock of transplanting.

[Allan]

I sent the previous message. I apologise for the anonymity.
Allan

[Geoff]

Looks like 6" is correct. I agree on the feeding to get them started, a bit of Growmore in my case. Also don't forget to water them well as the flowers are setting.