Growing Peas, Planting Peas, How to Plant Peas

Easy tips for growing peas in your vegetable garden. Tips for planting peas in container gardens, square foot gardens, and row gardens using stakes or a trellis. Learn when to plant peas in your garden, crop rotation ideas, and more.

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General Planning for Garden Peas:

Follow the seasonal care guidelines below to keep your plants healthy and productive.

growing peas, thin plants to 2- 3 inches apart after they have grown 2- 3 inches tall.

Prepare for Planting Peas in Autumn

Prepare bed for peas in late-winter or spring. To get a start jump on early spring planting, prepare a bed for your first spring peas the fall before.

Planting and Growing Peas in Late Winter- Spring

Cover soil with black plastic.

Lay plastic over your fall-prepared bed several weeks before planting to warm the soil.

Remove the plastic on planting day.

Place floating row covers over seedbeds. Covering early plantings helps to keep the soil warm and protects plants from extreme cold.

Remove protective covering once daytime temperatures are in the 60s and nights stay above freezing.

Not to fear if frost threatens after blossoms appear; pea seedlings can withstand light freezes.

Provide support for peas by putting up a trellis or other supports before planting your crops. Alternatively, you can construct trellises at planting time or when the seedlings are a few inches high.

When seedlings of peas reach 3 inches tall, apply a 2 to 6 inch layer of grass clippings or other mulches to control weeds and retain soil coolness and moisture.

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Can You Grow Peas in the Summer?

It depends on your local climate. Peas don't mind warm or hot weather, but peas thrive in cool, moist soil. Keep soil consistently moist but not soggy.

Once the soil warms to 70 degrees F. or higher, the pea plants will quickly mature and stop producing.

After harvesting, mow the bed or cut the plants off and add them to the compost bin.

Planting Peas in Late Summer- Fall

Plant for fall and winter harvests as your region allows. Mulch new plantings and provide partial shade if weather is still warm at planting time.

Protect late crops from frost. Cover plants with floating row cover when frost threatens. When the plants are no longer productive or frost kills them, mow the bed or cut plants off and compost them.

Companion Planting when Growing Peas

A good idea when peas is to use companion planting. This way you can grow two crops in the space of one and provide benefits for both.

For example, plant peas and a warm season crop together and reap extra harvests.

Peas and tomatoes work especially well together.

Plant peas in a ring around the outside of tomato cages in early spring. The peas will climb up the wire.

Transplant tomatoes in the cages as the weather permits.

The growing peas will protect the tomatoes from cool winds before they fade away and leave behind an extra boost of nitrogen for the hungry tomatoes.

You can also train growing peas up a wooden A frame covered with a twine grid. Inter-plant a few cucumbers between the peas when the weather warms.

As the peas stop producing, the cucumbers will be filling in the space, happily accepting the additional nitrogen left over by the pea crops.

Reverse the pairing for fall crops, allowing the warm season crop to provide cooling shade for the seedling peas.

For instance, a row of trellised tomatoes provides midsummer sun protection for a row of shade loving peas.

Growing peas and tomatoes are a mutually beneficial combination; however any tall crop can supply shading.

Trellis Growing Peas

When trellising growing peas, tall varieties need a 5 to 8 foot high trellis.

Pound stakes firmly into the soil at the ends of the row or every 10 to 15 feet.

Stretch a strip of 4 to 6 inch mesh netting from end to end.

Growing Peas in Container Gardens

Peas can be grown in a container garden.

Pea plants like to have cool roots, so plant them in a deep container so that the soil won't warm too quickly.

Bush peas are a better choice for container gardens.

Pea plants may need to be staked or trellised for support.

Follow planting instructions on pea seed packet.

Plant Peas in Square Foot Garden

You may want to plant peas, onions, and lettuce in your square foot garden in early spring.

Peas, onions and lettuce can tolerate fairly cold weather, they mature early, and can be harvested and removed from your garden in time to plant warm-weather vegetables such as tomatoes, green peppers, and squash.

The pea plants add nitrogen to the soil in your square foot garden, which will be beneficial to their replacement crop.

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Growing Peas to Vegetable Gardening

Growing Peas to Planting a Vegetable Garden

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