Peas are a popular plant in gardens, since the technology for sowing and growing them is simple; seedlings are not even required. However, in order to get a large harvest every year, you need to know how to plant peas correctly. In order for the grown beans to contain a lot of nutrients, you need to comply with the planting and harvesting dates, be able to choose the right soil, and select plants for planting next to the peas.
Do I need to soak peas before planting in open ground?
Planting peas is a simple process that does not require soaking and germination of the seed. Often, gardeners, in the hope of speeding up the germination process of legumes, soak peas. This should not be done, since at this time the soil for planting is sufficiently moistened, but there is a risk of cold weather, then the germinated seeds will die.
In order for the plants to sprout, you need to properly prepare the pea seeds for sowing.
First you need to select seeds that show signs of infection with the weevil. It is difficult to determine the disease by eye, so you can use a special method. Prepare a saline solution using 2 tbsp. l. table salt per 1 liter of boiled water. Place the peas in this mixture and wait. Within 5 minutes, all affected seeds will float to the surface.
The floating grains are unsuitable for further use; they must be collected and thrown away.
Healthy peas should be rinsed with clean water at room temperature and then dried (can be spread on a cloth or paper towels). The seeds selected in this way still need to be divided by size in order to plant large and small grains in different beds.
To ensure that the seeds begin to germinate at the same time, they can be heated before sowing. This is done simply: just place the seed for 1 or 2 hours next to the heater or battery.
When is the best time to sow peas?
The timing of sowing peas depends on the selected variety and the length of its growing season. A popular variety is early sugar varieties, they are ready for harvesting in 1.5 or 2 months. Sowing of peas should be carried out depending on the planned date of its harvest. This plant can be planted early, as soon as the ground thaws.
For example, in central Russia in warm years this plant can be planted starting in mid-April, and in colder regions - from mid-May. When planting it in the southern regions, you need to plant it as early as possible (for example, in March), since this plant does not tolerate hot weather well, and the entire harvest must be harvested before the onset of heat. To extend the harvest period, it is worth sowing both early-ripening and mid-ripening plant varieties at the same time.
To have fresh peas for a long time, you need to plant them several times. The interval between plantings should be about 2 weeks. In the middle zone and cold regions, this legume should be sown no later than the beginning of July.
Soil and air temperature
It is important to understand that when planting peas in open ground, you need to take into account the soil temperature, and not the average daily air temperature. The grown plant has good resistance to cold, but before germination, its ungerminated seeds in the ground, saturated with moisture, may die or rot when the temperature drops. Therefore, before sowing, you need to choose the right plant variety, taking into account the soil temperature at which it can germinate effectively.
For smooth-grain varieties to germinate, the soil temperature must be above +1 °C (a few days after the snow has completely melted), and for brain varieties - above +4 °C (2 weeks after the snow has melted). For plant growth, a stable temperature of +12...+16 °C is needed, and the formation of pods - +16...+22 °C.
If the temperature is higher than this, the taste characteristics will suffer and the yield will decrease, so peas are more suitable for growing in the spring.
Soil selection
Peas are a plant that produces organic substances containing nitrogen that are useful for growth on its roots. Despite this, legumes still need to be fed with fertilizers so that there are more pods and the bush does not die prematurely. For proper feeding, you will need nutrient mixtures containing potassium, phosphorus and even nitrogen.
Before sowing peas, you need to choose suitable soil. Sandy loam or medium loamy soil is better suited. It is important that there is low or neutral acidity, since the plant does not tolerate acidic soils. If the soil on the site is highly acidic, you must add crushed chalk, lime or dolomite flour to it in advance.
If there is a large area of pea sowing in the fields, it is worth choosing land on which potatoes, cabbage, pumpkins, beets or corn, and cereals were previously grown. It is not recommended to plant it after other legumes.
What can I plant peas next to?
Peas saturate the soil with useful organic nitrogen-containing substances due to nodule symbiont bacteria.
The soil that peas have enriched with nitrogen is favorable for many plants, because of this they are considered a useful neighbor. Peas can even be planted between rows of beds as a fertilizer producer for neighboring vegetables, and the harvest of the peas themselves in this case will be a pleasant bonus.
Taking into account the usefulness of neighboring plants for peas, it is worth paying attention to tomatoes (they will help in the fight against pests), corn (as a support for it), mustard (will overcome the codling moth). This legume also gets along well with potatoes, carrots, various salads and herbs, cucumbers and cabbage.
Do not plant garlic, onions, or other legumes next to peas.
Before planting, it is necessary to plow the soil; the depth of plowing of the soil for peas is from 20 to 27 cm.
How to properly plant peas in open ground?
After the seeds and soil for peas are ready, you need to start planting. To do this, you first need to select the area dug up last fall and apply fertilizer and form beds. Then, using a hoe, make furrows 3-4 cm deep, at a distance of 20-25 cm from each other. If it is clear that the soil is not sufficiently moistened, it is worth watering the furrows with water. Then spread the seed along the created strips at a distance of 10 cm from each other; the peas must be deepened into the soil by 4-5 cm.
After the peas are spread out, the furrows need to be filled with earth and the soil must be compacted a little on top. If the soil looks dry, you can water it (always using a watering can with a diffuser). When planting is finished, you need to cover the beds with thick non-woven material, otherwise birds may eat the seeds.
Shoots will appear approximately a week after planting. When this happens, you will need to loosen the soil a little and carefully.
Preparation of beds and planting scheme
When looking for a place to plant peas, it is better to choose a dry area open to the sun. For varieties that ripen earlier, you can make beds up to 0.5 m wide, and for later varieties - narrow beds, arrange trellises and plant several rows of plants. This will make harvesting easier.
Immediately before sowing peas in open ground, furrows are made longitudinally for narrow beds, and transversely for wide ones. In such beds you can make row inserts (about 40 cm wide) and plant lettuce on them.With this scheme, both crops will actively grow, especially on fertile soil.
Peas are often planted in open ground under apple trees. It’s not difficult, the main thing is to know how to plant peas and make sure that there is enough light for them, and before planting you need to add about 10 cm of fertile soil.
Sowing peas in the garden
Before starting gardening work, you should watch a video that explains how to plant peas in open ground. Using the video, you can learn the method of sowing peas, see the seed sowing rate and learn useful tips on varieties and planting material.
Plant care
Peas are a resilient and unpretentious plant, so planting them with seeds in open ground and further care are simple. The main thing you need to do with it after planting is to tie it up, water it and feed it, and not let it get sick or be besieged by pests.
Leave growing peas It begins when the bushes are very small; at this time you need to loosen the soil. When the bushes are large, loosening is not required; moreover, this will be difficult to do due to the density of the plant. Adult seedlings are also not weeded.
Almost all varieties require the installation of additional support next to the beds. After installing the trellis, almost no garter is required, since the plant clings itself. If a variety is planted whose height will be up to 0.5 m, then you can limit yourself to installing sticks with a fishing line stretched between them.
If there is no precipitation, the plant needs watering. While there are no flowers, it is enough to moisturize once a week. It is important to water the plants 2 times a week during the flowering and ripening process of the peas.
The time of watering should be combined with the application of fertilizing. This is done when flowering begins and pods set.The composition for 1 m² of bed is prepared from 10 liters of water and 1 tbsp diluted in it. l. azofoski. Additional watering is done before fertilizing and after the procedure.
