Kitchen Garden Forum

I am intending to grow some tall peas next year, and wondered if anybody here who regularly grows them could recommend a support structure for them.
Many thanks in advance

I use 2.5 m posts at about 1.5 m apart with 2 m pea netting suspended from a clothes line attached to the top of the posts.

Evening PJ, i'm lucky enough to still cut my own hazel peasticks, but i also put 8' poles in with string in between just for added stability.

realfood wrote:I use 2.5 m posts at about 1.5 m apart with 2 m pea netting suspended from a clothes line attached to the top of the posts.

Hi realfood,

Thanks for the quick reply. I inherited a bean trench with a fence post at each end and a washing line along the top, so if I erected another of those with some extra posts that should work.

oldherbaceous wrote:Evening PJ, i'm lucky enough to still cut my own hazel peasticks, but i also put 8' poles in with string in between just for added stability.

Evening OH,

Lucky you What sort of poles do you use?

The poles are wooden, eight foot long three inches across and pressure treated.

And i nearly forgot the most important thing, they were free, given to me by my good friend, Old Codger.

I knock them in with a post rammer, which only takes a matter of minutes.

A good friend indeed

That's quite a substantial structure isn't it.

Good luck with your tall peas, picked regularly the crop for ages.

I use the same type of poles as OH, but have fixed the lightest weight of stock fencing on to mine. It is more rigid and easier to pull the plants off when they've finished. I got so sick of battling with pea netting.

Hi PLUMPUDDING,

That stock fencing sounds like a great idea. I'll look into that

Hi PJ, I can also vouch for a more substantial netting. I don't know how it compares to what plumpudding uses, but the plastic is 4mm thick, in squares with side around 5cm.

It's much easier to handle. My one came in rolls about 70cm wide, so I used a few strips, one above the other, attached by twine to a section of ordinary runner bean canes (have grown my peas & beans side by side in one long strip for the last few years).

Hi Colin_M,

Thanks for that. It seems to be the way to go

I would be interested to know what tall varieties of peas you all favour
to grow up these frames? I imagine they are spring planted, but are there any tall varieties that can be started off in autumn ? I have some douce de provence under cloches at the moment but they are not that tall.

Dear Nature's Babe, i used to grow Alderman or Ne plus ultra, but i now grow Radeo.

Radeo seem to crop over a lot longer period, even if all the peas don't get picked. The pods are not quite as large as Ne plus ultra, but there are a lot more of them and the taste is wonderful.

Just a little warning, if grown well, you will need a step ladder to harvest as the season goes on.

Hi OH,

Where can you get Radeo? Have you tried Telefono?