How long can sugar snap peas go?

I have some sugar snap peas that I planted late, but are still producing. They are right next to a Sweet 100 tomato which is shading it just slightly. If I let the tom shade the peas will they go longer? I know to keep them very well watered, and they are still climbing, but want to keep them around as long as possible. Next time I plant them I'll put them in the bed that gets more shade, but we live and learn.

Aren't they delicious?! I am keeping mine as long as I can, too. Mine have fallen off their trellis and are resting on my hoops now...lol. But, I keep getting more and more peas.

I don't know when they will stop, as this is my first year with peas. But, I don't really care. I hope they hold out forever.

I pulled my pea plants just last week(SC) I planted them a little late, but put my garden under a tree to get shade. Just let them go til you don't have anymore to pick, or they stop blooming a lot.
MM and plenty of shade. Peas can handle some heat if their feet are cool.
JO

These have definitely become my favorite vegetable so far. After I posted I found a wee little plant peaking it's head through the soil. Apparently one of the early peas must have fallen in and germinated after I planted the other ones. I am hoping that if I make sure it stays cool, as well as the other ones also, I may have peas for many weeks to come.

If that doesn't work I can plant these again in late summer for a fall crop, I think.

I pulled up mine last week too. After a week of no blooms, I figured they were done. Considering it had gotten up to the 90's I was pretty sure this cool weather veg. was finished. I was glad I pulled them up because they were harboring many insects that I didn't want in my garden. There were at least 2 major aphid cities living below the "skyscrapers." They were very healthy and happy.

I was very pleased with how many peas I got out of 4 squares. We got enough to freeze which surprised me. I can't wait to plant them again next year!

Heidi

...and here I'm wondering if I'll get any peas before it gets too hot? I haven't seen a bloom yet. Mine are about 4-5 feet tall and look great, but no blooms?

dianamarie03 wrote:...and here I'm wondering if I'll get any peas before it gets too hot? I haven't seen a bloom yet. Mine are about 4-5 feet tall and look great, but no blooms?

Dianamarie03, you should be seeing flowers soon. My peas finally bloomed and I am just now seeing the pea pods.

I'm still getting some too, the pods are bitter, but we just shell them and eat the peas inside, they are still sweet.

Mine are still going strong. I wish I had planted more. They seldom make it out of the garden! Against others' advice, I recently planted two squares in the dappled shade of a cherry tree. They are just now poking up out of the MM. This is an experiment. I will try to give them as mush sunlight as possible yet still keep them cool in the shade. I will keep all of you posted on their progress.

I planted my sugar snap peas in late March and they are still blooming, but I can tell they are about done for the season. We had record high temps the first part of June and it was hard on them. I planted two "rows" down the center on the north side of a 4 x 4 box, centering the trellis between them. They have grown higher than the 5' trellis and the tops are bent over after (but didn't break) a storm. There is still bloom!

Side note: I had some Burpee Super Sugar Snap seed left from last year and rahter than order more I bought a packet locally (Livingston Seed). The supposed Livingston sugar snaps are definitely not sugar snaps. They a flat like snow peas. Which is okay, we eat those in stir fry. I have about four cups of these flat ones that I will be freezing.

My hubby likes to eat sugar snaps raw, straight from the vine, but I like to blanch them in boiling water for 1 minute and then plunge them in ice water to chill. Blanching brings our their sweetness and takes that bitter/raw flavor away -- and it really intensifies their green color. We love them in salads too!

pattipan

My peas seem to die down three months after they are planted, but we have a short growing season and go from winter to spring in just a few weeks (zone 3). I read that you can mulch the roots to keep them cool so once we get some heat, I will put wood chips on the squares. As for growing them in the shade, the more sun they get the sweeter they are, something to do with chemistry. Mine are in partial shade and I don't think it saves them from giving up in the heat. I am not sure how they compare in the amount of pods they have compared to other plants, but they taste good.

My question:

3 months after I plant them, in late July/early August heat, they start getting brown spots and it kind of moves up the plant. There are still pods on them and they get the brown spots too and no longer taste good. Is this how peas are supposed to end their life cycle? Or is there something wrong?

I started in April, and peas were among the first things I planted. They didn't grow very high, but they did produce well. I'm still noticing some new growth continuing up the vine, despite the heat. Also, I found that there are new leaves shooting out from near the root on at least one of the plants. Seems odd, but I've never grown them before, so I guess I'll keep them in until they just don't grow at all!

You can just see the new growth in this picture, some up top and the weird new stuff coming up from the roots right at the bottom of the image next to the wood lath.

Hey, ya'll - I have that 'no blooms' problem with sugar snaps too. I planted Mammoth Melting peas in april and the SS peas about 2 weeks later. The MM peas started flowers when they were about 2 feet tall and are going like crazy. The SS peas are now three feet tall and no flowers at all. Both kinds are in Earthboxes (which I started before I found SFG) and both have the same fertilizer that came with the earthbox. I read somewhere that the fertilizer might be too high in nitrogen and not enough potassium - but both boxes have the same stuff. I am PUZZLED! I suppose I'll let the SS go a while longer and see what happens. Any input, anyone?

I will go with the "3 months" comment. I just pulled mine this weekend. They hadn't bloomed in a couple weeks and the vines were looking really raggedy in the heat of summer.

Next year, I allocate more space in spring....and stagger about every 3 weeks. It took me 3 squares worth to get a satisfying harvest. We will hopefully have some to give away next spring and also some to freeze for a few weeks.

Well I pulled mine out today. I got home from visiting family over the weekend and they were looking pretty ratty despite still showing blossoms. I picked every last little pea pod I could find, and I'll plan on planting more for the fall, but it seemed like the right time to pull them today.

We had such an uncommon spring and start to summer so despite being planted around Mothers Day, I just started being able to pick peas this week.

I also would say about 3 months. I planted the seeds at the beginning of May and I'm still getting peas but they are starting to produce less now.

The weather, the weather, the weather...!

The peas I planted in late February are just now done. They were slow to grow but kept on coming. I've never paid attention to how long they produce once they start.

It took so long for my peas to get going, because of our very late spring, I just pulled mine at the end of September. The cool dry summer kept them producing for almost 4 months this year! That's a first for me. They've never lasted through August before.

we fall planted a row, hoping they have time to mature b4 freezing weeather