Gadenin日本語Get the appThe season is short and heat ends it
Peas take roughly 60 to 70 days from sowing to first picking, and then crop for two to four weeks. What ends the crop is almost never the calendar; it is the day the daytime temperature settles above about 80F (27C), at which point flowers abort, pods stop filling and the plants start to yellow. Everything about pea timing is an attempt to fit the whole cycle in before that day arrives.
That is why sowing early matters so much more with peas than with most crops. A fortnight lost at sowing is not a fortnight later harvest; it is a fortnight of picking removed from the end, because the finish date is set by the weather rather than by the plant. Peas germinate at 40F (4C), so there is very little reason to wait.
| Stage | Roughly when | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Sowing and emergence | As soon as the ground can be worked | How much picking you get before the heat |
| Support and establishment | 2 to 4 weeks after sowing | Whether the row stands up all season |
| Flowering | 6 to 8 weeks after sowing | Pod numbers. This is when water matters |
| Picking | 60 to 70 days after sowing | How long the plant keeps producing |
Stage by stage through the season
The table below is written against your last spring frost rather than against calendar months, because that is the date that actually differs between gardens. Peas are hardy: young plants take a light frost without damage, so you are working with the state of the soil rather than waiting for frost to finish.
For an autumn sowing in a mild area, run the same sequence backwards from your first frost. Sow three to four weeks before it so plants are three to four inches (8 to 10 cm) tall going into winter, hold them there through the cold, and they resume growth and flower several weeks ahead of anything spring-sown.
| Point in the season | Main jobs | The point of it |
|---|---|---|
| 4 to 6 weeks before last frost | Prepare and lime the bed, check drainage, order seed | Get the ground ready so you can sow the moment it dries |
| As soon as the ground can be worked | Sow, or sow in guttering under cover, and net against birds | Every week earlier is a week more picking |
| 2 to 4 weeks after sowing | Put in supports, guide the tendrils on, hand weed | A row that meets its support on time never collapses |
| 5 to 6 weeks after sowing | Mulch the row, stop hoeing, tuck stray growth in | Keeps the roots cool as the weather turns |
| First flower | Start watering deeply, mesh against pea moth | Pod set and pod fill are decided here |
| 60 to 70 days after sowing | Pick every other day, keep watering, watch for mildew | Frequent picking extends the crop by weeks |
| When flowering stops | Final picking, cut the tops, leave the roots in | The nitrogen in the roots goes to the next crop |
Early season: get them in and leave them alone
The work at the start is preparation, not attention. Have the bed dug, limed if it needs it, and drained before the sowing window opens, so that the first week of workable soil is not spent preparing ground. Then sow, net against birds and mice, and do very little else. Watering a young pea row is nearly always a mistake.
The one active job in this period is the support, and the deadline for it is when the plants are three to four inches (8 to 10 cm) tall. Build it at full height straight away rather than adding to it later, because driving posts into an established row cuts roots you cannot see.
- Test the soil before you sow Squeeze a handful. If it holds together as a wet ball, wait a few days. Sowing into cold waterlogged ground loses the whole row to rot.
- Net immediately after sowing Birds and mice take peas at the seed and seedling stage. The netting goes on the same day as the seed, not after you notice damage.
- Support at three to four inches Put the full-height support in while the plants are small and lean the tips against it. Once the first tendril grips, the row climbs on its own.
Flowering to picking: the busy fortnight
From the first open flower the crop needs real attention for about a fortnight. Water deeply once or twice a week if it is dry, check the lower leaves for the first white patch of mildew, and if pea moth is a problem in your garden, get the mesh on before the flowers have been open long. This short period does more for the size of your harvest than everything earlier in the season.
Then picking begins, and the rule is frequency. Every other day, taking everything that is ready and stripping off anything that got away. A plant that is allowed to mature seed reads its job as done and stops flowering, so diligent picking is the difference between a two week crop and a four week one.
- Water at first flower A thorough soak, about a gallon per square foot or 20 to 25 liters per square meter, once or twice a week from flowering onwards.
- Start the mildew watch Check the bottom foot of the row weekly. Catching the first coin-sized white patch buys you weeks of extra picking.
- Pick every other day Fix the days rather than picking when you remember. Pods move from perfect to past it in 48 hours in warm weather.
Ending the crop and setting up the next one
When flowering has stopped and the last pods are picked, cut the plants off at soil level and leave the roots in the ground. The nitrogen-fixing nodules break down in place and feed whatever follows, which is why brassicas planted after peas do noticeably well. Pulling the roots out throws that away for no benefit.
Take the top growth off the plot if there was mildew or pea moth, and note the bed on your rotation plan so peas do not return to it for three or four years. Record the sowing date, the emergence date, the first flowering date, the first and last picking, and the day the heat shut the crop down. Those six dates are your own calendar, and they beat any general guidance for your particular garden.
- Cut the tops, keep the roots Snip at soil level and compost the haulm if it was healthy. The root system stays in the bed as free fertilizer.
- Follow with a hungry crop Brassicas, leafy greens or sweetcorn planted straight after peas make direct use of the nitrogen left behind.
- Log the six dates Sowing, emergence, first flower, first pick, last pick, and the day it shut down in the heat. Two seasons of that fixes your sowing date for good.