Peas

Peas (*Pisum sativum*) are easy annual climbers grown for sweet seeds, edible pods or tender shoots. Garden peas are shelled, mangetouts are picked flat and sugarsnaps are harvested once their fleshy pods become rounded. Plants range from dwarf 45cm types to vigorous 1.8m climbers, so there is a pea for containers, small plots and full-height supports.

Freshly picked peas lose sweetness quickly, which makes them especially rewarding at home. Sow small batches every few weeks or combine early and maincrop cultivars to extend picking through summer and into autumn. Regular harvesting encourages plants to keep flowering.

Smooth-seeded garden peas are comparatively hardy and suit early sowings. Wrinkled types are generally sweeter and are sown later. First earlies begin cropping in about 12 weeks, second earlies in 13–14 weeks and maincrops in 14–16 weeks. Mangetout and sugarsnap cultivars are productive because the whole pod is eaten.

Recommended varieties

Pea ‘Hurst Green Shaft’ AGM

A popular maincrop shelling pea with long pods, up to eleven peas per pod and a progressive heavy harvest.

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Pea ‘Jaguar’ AGM

A 70cm second early garden pea carrying six or seven peas per pod, with resistance to powdery mildew.

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Pea ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ AGM

A first early shelling pea with excellent flavour that can also be grown as an early maincrop.

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Pea ‘Delikata’ AGM

A mangetout with long crisp sweet green pods and a long picking season when harvested regularly.

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Pea ‘Vivado’ AGM

A compact late-season maincrop producing heavy crops of sweet-tasting peas with excellent disease resistance.

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Pea ‘Terrain’ AGM

A heavy-cropping garden pea with good disease resistance, favoured for late-season harvesting.

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Pea ‘Delikett’ AGM

A compact sugarsnap with fleshy green edible pods. Pick young pods whole or leave them to mature for shelling.

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Pea ‘Sugar Ann’ AGM

An early bushy sugarsnap yielding fleshy sweet pale-green pods about 6cm long.

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Pea ‘Cascadia’ AGM

A quick-maturing, fairly compact sugarsnap reaching about 1m and producing short tasty edible pods.

Cultivar sourceAllotment Pro variety guide

Choose a warm, sunny, sheltered site with free-draining but moisture-retentive soil. Remove perennial weeds and work in at least two bucketfuls of garden compost or well-rotted manure per square metre. Do this a few weeks before sowing so the surface can settle. In a no-dig bed, apply mature compost as a surface mulch and sow into it.

Plan supports and paths before sowing. Tall rows need generous airflow, particularly late in the season when powdery mildew is common. Leave the distance between successive sets of rows roughly equal to the mature height of the cultivar. Peas fix atmospheric nitrogen in root nodules, but they still benefit from good soil structure and a steady water supply.

Dwarf peas and fast mangetouts can grow in containers at least 45cm wide, although the smaller number of plants limits the total harvest. Use peat-free multipurpose compost and set supports in place at sowing.

For an early, reliable start, sow indoors during February or March in deep modules, small pots or cardboard tubes. Insert up to three seeds per pot, or one per tube or module, about 5cm deep. A compost-filled length of guttering can hold a double row at 7.5cm spacing, ready to slide into a matching trench with little root disturbance. Keep seedlings in good light and water regularly.

Outdoor sowing runs from March to June once the soil is at least 10°C. Cold, waterlogged ground encourages seed to rot, so use cloches to warm slow spring soil or start the first batch indoors. For tall cultivars, sow 7.5cm apart in a single row or two rows 30cm apart. Add netting or wire supports promptly.

For shorter cultivars, make a flat-bottomed trench 5cm deep and 15cm wide. Sow three staggered rows across its width, with seeds approximately 7.5cm apart. Cover, firm lightly, water and insert twiggy sticks. Protect emerging shoots from pigeons, slugs and snails; indoor sowing also avoids mice taking freshly planted seeds.

For pea shoots, sow indoors at any time, 2.5cm deep and 2.5cm apart in a tray. Harvest when shoots reach 10–15cm after three to four weeks. Cut about 2.5cm above the base and they may regrow once.

Harden off indoor-raised plants, then plant outside from March once they are around 20cm tall. Soak before and after planting and space plants about 7.5cm apart without disturbing the roots. Retain the row pattern appropriate to the cultivar: triple rows for short peas or single and double rows for climbers.

Most peas climb with leaf tendrils. Give tall types strong netting or chicken wire fixed to posts or bamboo canes up to the cultivar's full height; some reach 1.8m and become top-heavy. Twiggy pea sticks are sufficient for compact plants. Guide loose shoots towards the support before wind flattens them.

Established ground-grown peas need water mainly in dry weather. Water thoroughly when flowers open and again two weeks later to help pods swell. During cropping, check moisture at root depth and apply water to soil rather than foliage. Container compost dries quickly and needs regular attention. Mulch after planting to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.

Peas in fertile ground rarely need extra fertiliser. Feed container plants every fortnight from the first flowers with a high-potassium organic liquid feed. Avoid excessive nitrogen, which encourages soft leafy growth rather than pods.

Harvest from June to October according to crop type, sowing date and cultivar. Shelling peas are ready when pods are well filled but still fresh green. Pick mangetouts and sugarsnaps at about 7.5cm, just as seeds begin to develop, unless the cultivar description gives a smaller ideal length. Pods mature from the bottom of the plant upward.

Pick every few days. Hold the vine with one hand and detach the pod with the other so brittle stems are not torn from their support. Regular removal keeps new flowers and pods forming; if too many peas mature on the plant, cropping slows. Freeze surplus shelling peas promptly rather than leaving them to become starchy.

Once harvesting ends, cut stems at soil level and compost healthy top growth. Leave roots in the ground to decay so some of their fixed nitrogen remains available to following crops.

Eat or chill peas immediately after picking because their sugars rapidly convert to starch. Shell garden peas shortly before cooking. Mangetout and sugarsnap pods are eaten whole after the stalk end and any obvious string are removed. Young pea shoots add a fresh pea flavour to salads and stir-fries, but taking too many tips from a pod crop reduces its yield.

Blanch and freeze surplus shelled peas soon after harvest. Fully mature marrowfat types are instead dried for storage and later used in stews, casseroles or mushy peas. Only store sound, thoroughly dried seed.

Gaps after sowing often indicate rotted seed or feeding by mice. Avoid wet, cold ground and protect or raise early batches indoors. Net young plants against pigeons and check frequently for slugs and snails. Notched leaf edges are typical of pea and bean weevil; established plants often tolerate the damage, but seedlings can be weakened.

Good airflow, root-level watering and dependable moisture reduce powdery mildew. Remove severely virus-distorted plants, control weeds that may harbour infection and clean tools. Pea moth caterpillars feed invisibly inside pods, so shell affected crops carefully. Thrips can mottle growth during warm dry conditions.

Common problems