Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

moswell 5/4/2011, 10:08 pm

Okay, so this may seem like a silly question, so forgive me. I followed the guidelines and planted eight snap pea plants in a square foot, and I need to get them to move towards my trellis. This seems relatively straightforward with the ones closest to the trellis, but how do I get the ones on the inside of the square to move towards the trellis? I just started to notice little vines in the last couple days, so I'm figuring I need to do something soon. Smile

Thanks in advance, and here's a picture of where things stand:

Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine Sfg05010

The peas are at the top of the picture, second square on the left.

Patty from Yorktown 5/4/2011, 10:30 pm

Hi,
I have positioned my peas a little differently than you. I made a double line of 4 right under my trellis. In any event the plants will start to get a little taller and reach out with tendrils. Just guide the tendrils toward the net. The plants are fairly flexible and they want to grab. Enjoy your salad!

Patty from Yorktown

chexmix 5/5/2011, 12:05 am

You did fine with them. As they grow, guide them towards the trellis. The ones farther away will have to be taller before they will reach the trellis. They will also use each other to support themselves. So don't worry it will all work out.

tabletopper 5/5/2011, 12:11 am

are these peas the chinese stir fry? if so my husband made me cages for each square to be used with a plastic cover, or shade cloth with clothes pins.....So what I have done is made a "2nd story" by stacking 2 of them ,,,,wired together on the sides....it works good for me....love the stir fry peas....even cut some up and put them in my dogs food...she gets her "greens" too.......Ruth

moswell 5/5/2011, 10:15 am

Thanks everyone. Smile

I'll trust that they'll eventually grow enough to actually reach the trellis. Alas, I have no husband to help me build things, but I might try to make something like a tower around the tomato square feet because I'm worried about the tomatoes being eaten by chipmunks and squirrels.

quiltbea 5/5/2011, 10:29 am

I don't know how to pull a secion of the post to this one so I'll just type it in....
"I trust they'll eventually grow enough to actually reach the trellis"

Well, I had to smile at that line. They'll grow alright, around 6' tall or more.
The vines are eager to grab something so when they gain the length to touch the trellis, just move it there and it will take over with a vengeance.
Good luck and enjoy your harvest. They're soooo tasty home grown.

BackyardBirdGardner 5/5/2011, 10:35 am

No worries. The peas will get about 4 inches tall before you can even do anything with them. You will notice they start putting out little "feelers." Those things grab onto things and curl around them to hold on.

If the feelers can't reach your trellis, put them on the nearest pea plant. Mine are using themselves to support themselves like crazy. My trellis is actually outside my garden bed, so I had to really wait. They are doing fine. They all get sunshine.

Mine also got about 2 feet high before I saw the first blossom. Maybe because I didn't use innoculant, but whatevs. Once they start getting tall, don't worry about when blossoms will appear....they will.

Just keep putting the feelers in contact with the trellis as they grow, and you'll be a pea pro before you know it.

Happy Gardening!

moswell 5/5/2011, 11:10 am

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:
If the feelers can't reach your trellis, put them on the nearest pea plant. Mine are using themselves to support themselves like crazy.

Aha - that's a good idea. I do have feelers now (they showed up in the last couple days), so I can head them in the direction of the plants closer to the trellis.

Mine also got about 2 feet high before I saw the first blossom. Maybe
because I didn't use innoculant, but whatevs. Once they start getting
tall, don't worry about when blossoms will appear....they will.

What's an innoculant (in reference to plants, that is)?

BackyardBirdGardner 5/5/2011, 3:22 pm

The way I understand it, innoculant is something (powder, I think) that you put in the soil when you plant peas. It's supposed to kill a certain bacteria that can hinder production. When I first heard about it, I freaked out. I thought my peas were going to die "virgins." So, I asked the good people here and they told me it helps, but isn't a steadfast requirement.

Well, I didn't want to buy something else for the garden at the time, so I never did anything about it. We'll see when I start harvesting peas. Maybe I'll have something new to complain about. Wink

boffer 5/5/2011, 3:30 pm

moswell wrote:...What's an innoculant (in reference to plants, that is)?

It's like a bad habit: if you never try it, you won't miss it.

moswell 5/5/2011, 4:28 pm

boffer wrote:
moswell wrote:...What's an innoculant (in reference to plants, that is)?

It's like a bad habit: if you never try it, you won't miss it.

lol, okay. Very Happy

shannon1 5/6/2011, 3:25 am

Moswell,
Peas, beans and other legumes are well known to help fix nitrogen into the soil. What many people don’t know is that a significant amount of nitrogen fixing by peas and beans happens only when a special legume inoculant has been added to the soil.
The kind of bacteria used for legume inoculants is Rhizobium leguminosarum which is a nitrogen fixing bacteria. These bacteria “infect” the legumes growing in the soil and cause the legumes to form the nitrogen fixing nodules that make peas and beans the nitrogen powerhouses they are. Without the Rhizobium leguminosarum bacteria, these nodules do not form and the peas and beans will not be able to produce the nitrogen that helps them grow and also replenishes the nitrogen in the soil.
After you have grown legumes in inoculanted soil once you do not normally have to inoculante it again.

Sponsored content

Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas & getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine

Re: Sugar snap peas and getting them on the vine


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.