Poor pea germination

[gloworm]

Anyone have trouble germinating peas ?

[Colin_M]

Sorry gloworm but all mine germinated fine and are now around 2 feet high.

It may not be the best method but I always start my peas & beans off in a seed sprouter. There's often a difference of several days between the first & last sprouting - once the shoot appears I put them into compost, usually in Roottrainers. You'll see in a separate message bout Broad Beans that this is used by several other people . It also avoids the problems of mice stealing the peas as I only ever plant out seedlings.

Maybe this approach might help you identify a bad batch of seed earlier?

[Beryl]

Mine are about the same as Colins - 18"-2ft high. I start them off in 3" pots 5 to a pot, wait till they start getting their curly bits then plant out.

Its butternut I need help witht this year. Gone through 2 packets of seed already and only 2 up. Usually have so many I have to give them away.

Beryl.

[Monika]

We have lost a lot of peas to mice this year in spite of pre-germinating them, similar to Colin_M, but I mix them with damp potting compost until they swell and just show the germ emerging. That usually keeps the mice off but not this year. I suspect it's because there is little else to eat in the cold and dry weather.

The ones started in roottrainers are doing mostly ok, just a few nibbled at.

Might yours have been eaten by mice, gloworm?

[Nature's Babe]

I grew some earlies in troughs in the greenhouse, then hardened off before putting outside still in deep troughs, just waiting for the pods to fill now. It will be interesting to see what happens with the outside ones, we have cats, so mice are no problem the cats love to hunt, have just put some suger snaps in, and some asparagus peas.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Last year I had very poor germination from a new packet of Greenshaft peas from Marshalls. Only 12 germinated out of a large packet. I complained and they replaced the packet with another from the same batch which I commented on. I've sown from these this year and none have germinated.

The Robinson peas and a mangetout variety from my own saved seeds planted in exactly the same way at the same time have almost 100 per cent germination, so it is obviously the bought seeds that are either old or something is wrong with them.

I sow them outside into a flat trench in four rows with the peas spaced 3" apart and cover them with about 3 inches of soil and firm it down with the head of a rake. I put lots of small twigs among them for early support and protection from the sparrows and pigeons and grow them up a frame with stock fencing attached for them to climb up.

Peas germinate very easily outside and are very hardy, so don't assume you are doing something wrong. Make sure they aren't being eaten by birds or mice, or having their newly emerging tops nipped off by sparrows or slugs before you notice them.

[Johnboy]

Hi Plumpudding,
I would suggest that 3" deep is too deep. The recommended depth is 2" and that is 2" of disturbed soil which will settle down to about an inch.
I have built some new Pea gutters this year and I grow them quite thickly
50 peas to a 34" length of guttering but am now germinating the next generation at present and have only sown 34 per 34" of guttering as an experiment to see which is best. These are Clive's variety of Pea called Radio which are a 6' variety of super quality.
I have built two units each holding 5 x 34" lengths of square line gutter with an aviary wire cover and this equate to a 30 ft row of Peas.
I managed to buy a slightly damaged roll of 6' wire netting at a very advantageous price and there is enough wire for two 30ft rows with some left over and I hope I shall be able to reuse this wire for several seasons.
The trouble with 6' varieties is that in order to support them you have to start off with 6 x 8' pole sunk into the ground by 2'. Quite a fete for a geriatric! It's one pole a day and god knows how many cups of tea.
However the whole lot is set up and the first 30' row growing well at about 2' and the second will be planted out in about 2 weeks time. And then of course there is the Greenshaft as well. They will be late this year
and most will be eaten and not frozen. In all 90 ft of Peas.
There is no way that I could sow Peas direct because of the Mice even though we have many cats about the plot and my main problem here is Pheasants. They love the foliage. So more netting strategically placed prevents them access.
I forgot to say but the Pea propagators are on an outside bench so it is as thought they were growing in the row so no hardening off needed.
JB.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Hi Johnboy,

I plant them deeper as I've found over the years that mice, birds etc. don't seem to find them before they've germinated and with the exception of that packet of Greenshaft I've always had excellent germination and crops. I suppose it depends on the soil type and how wet it is too, but it suits my garden and I only have to do the job once.

[Monika]

We too have to net our peas and broad beans, Johnboy, because of birds (pheasants, grouse and jackdaws). I first cover them with tunnels of wire netting, to stop the birds digging them up, but when they are well up, we cover the whole bed with a sort of "fruit cage", made from soft netting draped over tall bamboo canes topped with upside down plastic bottles, about 5 foot high in the centre. It's a blooming nuisance because we either have to get in there to hoe, water and harvest or take the whole thing off for the time we are working there, but that always needs two people to put it back on again.

If we don't net the beds, the birds rip open the pods to get at the peas/beans. They never touch the runner beans or French beans!