Pea plants stalled?

[Leezer]

This is only my second time planting peas. I planted the seeds about 5 weeks ago. I was happy when they came up quickly and grew to a few inches tall. But they have been basically at that same short height ever since. I gave them some Miracle Grow a couple weeks ago which didn't seem to do much. Has anyone else experienced this problem? I feel like they just stopped growing. They look green and healthy otherwise. Not sure what the cause is or what to do about it. Or am I just being impatient? I don't recall this happening last year.

[MichaelC]

I don't know about your climate, but here mid-May is getting too late for starting peas. I transplanted some sugar snap peas in April, which I thought a bit late. I've gotten a nice, modest harvest for a couple of weeks now, which I expect to dwindle in the near future.

[kayjay]

Yeah, that sounds a bit late. They're supposed to go in the ground as soon as it can be worked. I still had a snowbank when I planted mine.

Are they getting enough light? Mine seemed slow to take off, until the last few weeks when the sun was higher in the sky and they got significantly more light.

Is it the same variety as you planted last year?

[rainbowgardener]

I will just +1. Peas are a cold weather crop that just do not do well with heat. As noted, they should be planted "as soon as the ground can be worked." For me that tends to be about a month earlier than my average last frost date, sometimes even 6 weeks earlier.

[MichaelC]

While we're on the subject, one of the sources for sugar snap peas writes "yields well in both hot and cold weather." Does anyone here have experience growing this particular cultivar in hot weather? I'm curious when they will quit, as my pole beans are taking them over. I will have to sacrifice them in not too much longer, as there is not room for them and all the beans that are growing in. I'm hoping I can get away with cutting the peas of at the ground, and stripping their leaves, because the beans are grown up all around their stems. There is no way I could extricate them.

To the OP: you might still get a bit of luck. At my daughter's preschool, they planted some peas around the same time you did. I went over and built them a trellis a couple weeks ago (they are not all that skilled at garden planning). It looked to me like they weren't going to do much of anything. But last week I saw them starting to find the trellis, and a couple of them were flowering.

[Peter1142]

My sugar snap peas are just running out of steam now. We had a hot spring and they grew 8 feet high and produced profusely. Very happy with them. They were planted April 1st or so. It was when the nights got warm that they started fizzling. But still produced.

[MichaelC]

Our nights are nice and cool here, lows in the 50's, and will remain so through most of the summer. I guess that's why mine are still going.

[Leezer]

Thank you all for the responses.

@kayjay I did try a different variety this year. Last year's variety did produce, just not very much. I chose one this year that was supposed to grow larger and produce more. They do get a lot of sun. We haven't had a lot of hot weather yet though, was hoping that would help them.

Maybe just need to get them started earlier. With my profession (tax accountant) it's difficult for me to get out to the garden until early May. Don't know if they could be started indoors in March sometime and then transplanted outside?

Thanks again.

[applestar]

Take a look in this thread
Subject: Is there more than one way to grow PEAS?

[Peter1142]

Why don't you prepare the bed in the Fall, then all you need to do is stick them in the ground. Better not to work the soil as soon as it can be worked anyway, it makes the soil rock hard.

[GardeningCook]

You "could" try planting for a Fall pea crop. It's a bit dicier than Spring peas since you have to really try to anticipate your first hard frost, but it can be done.

[Leezer]

Thank you applestar for that link, that thread was very helpful.

I had thought about trying a fall crop, maybe I'll give that a go, it's definitely cooler then. If not, getting the bed ready in the fall to save time in the spring is another good idea.

Thanks all.