Guest post by Arzeena Hamir
No matter what zone you live in, garden peas are one of the first crops that can be planted outdoors. Even though the weather may be mild at this time of the year in your zone, the soil is still quite cold which often results in poor germination. In addition, peas started in very cold soil are more susceptible to root rot and other soil-borne diseases. However, with a little planning and a few shortcuts, even gardeners who have to wait for a thaw to plant can get a jump on their pea harvest.
The hardest decision to make is choosing a variety. If you prefer shelling peas, I would recommend Maestro, Green Arrow, or Knight. These varieties are relatively early and give good yields. If you have a cooler season & are willing to wait for your peas, Alderman (Tall Telephone) is amazingly sweet. For snap peas, Sugar Snap is an old-time favourite with excellent taste. However, the vines are often 6ft tall. For a shorter earlier-maturing variety, try Sugar Mel or Sugar Ann. Finally, for snow peas, I love Oregon Sugar Pod II as well as Oregon Giant. Even if some of these pods get lost in the foliage and end up forming peas, I’ve found them to be quite sweet.
Although peas can survive weather down to 40º F, the seeds still require warmth to germinate. Cold, damp soil will retard germination, making the seeds susceptible to fungus & insect damage. An easy trick is to start the germination indoors. Pea seeds are easily sprouted between damp paper towel and once the root appears from the seed, it can be planted outside with a higher chance of survival. In colder areas where the ground is still thawing, the seeds can be grown as transplants for a couple of weeks longer.
Some sort of trellis will be required and should be erected before the plants emerge. Most peas grow to a height of 3 ft although many of the heirloom varieties can reach 6ft or more. Pea netting or even fish netting is ideal to allow the tendrils to form a good grip. If trellising just isn’t in the picture for your garden, I would recommend growing a semi-leafless pea variety like Novella II. The plants produce an abundance of tendrils and can support themselves if planted about 1 inch apart.
Ultimately, temperatures will rise and will support growth outside. Whether you’re direct seeding or transplanting, peas grown in early spring will benefit from the addition of inoculant. Peas, like other members of the legume family, have the ability to supply their own nitrogen from the atmosphere through a relationship they have with Rhizobia bacteria.
Although rhizobia are naturally occurring, in cold soil, they are not very active. Inoculant contains millions of these rhizobia bacteria and often comes in the form of a powder. Gardeners can either coat the seeds directly (like “Shake & Bake”) or mix inoculant into the soil where the transplants will grow. Either way, you will see a benefit. In trials, inoculated pea plants yielded 77% more peas than uninoculated plants. One word of caution, once the inoculant is moistened, use it all & do not let it dry out or you will kill the rhizobia.
Since peas can fix their own nitrogen, they require less nitrogen in their fertilizer. A fertilizer too rich in N (the first number) will promote leafy growth and delay flower & pod production. Before planting, compost or aged manure can be dug in. Peas also respond well to the addition of phosphorus (the middle number) so digging in bonemeal or rock phosphate will help with pea production.
Pre-sprouting, inoculating and extra phosphorus will all help your peas to get a jump on the weather and produce a bounty of harvest.
Arzeena Hamir is an agronomist and garden writer based in Vancouver, BC. She has worked in the organic gardening industry for 8 years as a consultant and trainer. When she’s not planting peas or harvesting zucchini, she runs Terra Viva Organics.
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After letting it rest a few days, I prepared the plant for repotting. First I removed it from the horrible bondage of the basket. Someone had the bright idea of using wire, string and all sorts of miscelleny in an attempt to hold the plant upright. All they really needed to do was replant it. The plant had simply become too big for the basket; I suspect the leaves were pulling the lightweight basket over. A bigger, heavier terra cotta pot would have solved the problem.
Note: If you do cut into the healthy roots or new growth of a cactus or succulent, it’s important to give the plant a week or two to heal over and form scabs before you repot it in fresh soil. Leave the plant exposed and outside of soil, resting on a piece of paper away from direct light or draughts. Dip the exposed roots into some powdered rooting hormone or green sulphur to encourage healing, fresh root growth, and to prevent fungal rot.
After I removed the dead roots I removed dead foliage. This step can be done at the same time as cutting the roots. The ‘healing period’ applies only to cuts made to ends at the bottom of the plant – areas that will be pressed into the soil to later form roots. Stems and other foliage can be cut off a plant at any time. With a pair of sharp pruning shears, I began to remove the unhealthy, brown and dead stems at the base of the plant. This plant had so much dead foliage, that when all was said and done there was only one good stem left: the one healthy and shiny new stem that made me bring the plant home in the first place. I did leave three additional stems intact, because I didn’t feel the plant had much of a chance with only one stem left to support the whole plant. The survivors were very pale and dull, but didn’t have scarred brown patches like the stems I cut off. I thought that perhaps with exposure to proper light they had a chance to regain some vibrancy and colour.
Another problem that could account for the dull, lifeless appearance of the stems was the amount of dirt and dust covering the plant. A layer of filth on a plant can prohibit it from obtaining enough light and carbon dioxide needed to carry out photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis is a plant’s main mode of food production. Inhibit photosynthesis and a plant will deteriorate. A quick fix to this problem is simply to wash the leaves. I used a few drops of liquid dish soap diluted in a bowl of room temperature water. Using a clean cloth, I carefully wiped the flattened stems of the plants clean and then used fresh water to rinse them off.
In the past I have had a tough time finding ready-made commercial cactus and succulent soil mixes that were suitable for potting. They are either too rocky or too sandy. I usually mix 2 1/2 parts of a mostly sand soil with 1 1/2 part good all-purpose potting soil. The general rule for mixing your own cactus soil is 1 part organic matter such as peat, loam, compost or some kind of soil-less potting mix, 2 parts coarse sand and 1 part inorganic matter such as grit, perlite (the white, foamy bits), or crushed lava rock. Additional nutritional supplements such as limestone or potassium can also be added. Keep in mind that although an epipyllum is a member of the cactus family, it is a jungle cactus that likes high humidity and moist, but not wet or soggy soil. As a result I have added extra humus to this soil mix.
Epilogue: It has been well over a month now since I first found the plant and repotted it. It had a bad start: two of the remaining stems were accidentally burned by a candle flame. Luckily they weren’t good stems and the plant recovered well from the trauma. I keep it near a sunny window and a grow light since the short winter days are often dark and sunless. The one good stem has grown considerably and even has aerial roots growing from the end. The other stems have taken on a darker green colour as opposed to the dull, yellowy-beige colour they first had. They too have begun to grow from the tips. There are three new stems emerging from stem stumps at the base and there has been considerable healthy root growth. The plant is still fairly ugly now but over time it will shed its battle scars and become a beautiful, healthy epiphyllum that I can proudly say I saved.
