All You Need To Know About Growing Peas

You have some questions about growing peas at home?

Good news! I answer many different questions about growing peas in this article so that you can grow peas on your balcony or in your garden in the best possible manner.

Time & Duration

When to grow peas from seed?

The best time to grow peas from seed is in late spring or early summer when there is no frost anymore.

However, you could also grow peas later in the year as long as you make sure that your growing project is finished before the first winter frost arrives.

Do peas grow year-round?

While most people only grow peas in late spring once a year, you could also grow multiple batches of peas in your garden.

In fact, you could grow the first batch in spring, the second in early summer and the last one in later summer or early fall.

Do peas grow fast?

While it will not take you as long to grow peas as with melons, pumpkins or zucchini, you will still need more time for it compared to growing carrots, lettuce or spinach.

On average, it will take you around two months to grow peas from seed to harvest, even though it can also take you a lot longer.

How long does it take to grow peas?

While experienced gardeners will be able to grow peas from seed to harvest in around 60 days, beginners will often take a lot longer since they will make more mistakes along the way and if you are new to gardening, you should rather expect a growing duration of around 90 days.

Do peas grow back every year?

Peas are grown as annuals and will not grow back at all. Hence, if you want to get yields in future years, you also have to plant new pea seeds every year.

Moreover, if you want to get multiple batches of yields in a single year, you will also have to plant multiple batches of pea seeds.

How long do pea plants live?

By harvesting your pea plants, you will usually also remove the plant material and therefore end the lifecycle of your plants.

If you don’t remove the plant material and let pea plants grow naturally, you can expect that your plants will grow until the first strong winter frost hits.

How long does it take until peas flower?

It will usually take you between 4 and 6 weeks until you see pea plants flower.

However, this also greatly depends on the lighting and growing conditions you provide to your plants in general and you should therefore not get disappointed if it takes you longer to see those results.

Can you grow peas in fall?

You can definitely grow peas in fall. Just make sure that you start growing peas in early fall so that your plants have enough time to grow and to produce crops before the first strong winter frost arrives and your plants start to decay.

Can you grow peas in winter?

Growing peas in winter is not a good idea at all since you would have to grow them indoors and would not be able to provide as natural growing conditions to your plants as outdoors.

Consequently, I suggest you wait with growing peas until next spring to get much better results on average.

Location & Climate

Will peas grow in shade?

While peas don’t need full sun to grow well, you should also not grow them in fully shady environments since your plants will just grow slower and will also not produce decent yields.

Therefore, make sure to provide your plants with at least a few hours of sunlight per day on average.

Will peas grow in partial shade?

You can grow peas well in locations with partial shade since your plants will get a healthy mix of sun and shade and will not be exposed to excessive radiation and heat while they still get enough natural sunlight to grow well and to produce decent yields.

Do peas grow best in full sun?

While it is also possible to grow peas in full sun, you should be careful to not provide too much sun to your plants since they may get sunburned.

This is especially true when your plants are still small and quite sensitive to heat and radiation.

Thus, instead of growing peas in full sun, make sure to choose a spot in your garden or on your balcony where your plants also get at least some level of shade.

Will peas tolerate frost?

While pea plants are not that sensitive to the cold, you should still not expose them to extremely cold weather and frost.

Otherwise, pea plants will not grow well and may even decay sooner or later.

Hence, wait with growing peas outdoors until you don’t expect spring frost anymore.

Do you have to protect peas from the sun?

While your plants are still small, it can make sense to protect them from the sun.

However, this doesn’t mean that you have to take any active measures in this regard.

Just choose a half-shady growing location and your plants will be protected from excessive sun exposure in a completely natural manner.

How much space do you need to grow peas?

Pea plants can grow quite big and you should therefore plan at least 5 square feet of space for each plant.

Of course, the more space you provide to your plants, the better your peas will grow on average and if you have a big garden, I suggest you give your plants even more space.

Will peas grow indoors?

While it is possible to grow peas indoors, you will run into all sorts of problems.

For instance, you will not be able to provide natural growing conditions to your plants.

Moreover, you will also have to clean your home more often and you may also introduce garden pests to your home.

Can you grow peas without a garden or balcony?

Without a garden or a balcony, it will be hard to grow peas at home since you would have to grow them indoors and this is not good for your plants as well as for you since your plants would just take away lots of space from you and would also produce much lower yields.

Can you grow peas in small flats?

Growing peas in small flats is not a good idea since your plants would take away lots of precious space from you and if you live under those confined conditions, I therefore suggest you wait with growing peas or other plants until you move to a bigger place.

Can you grow peas in an aquarium?

You could also try to grow peas in an aquarium instead of using a conventional pot.

However, you will often not be able to make sure that water will run off properly and the roots of your plants may start to rot.

Hence, growing peas in an aquarium is not a good idea and should only be a means of last resort.

Can you grow peas in a terrarium?

Growing peas in an aquarium also doesn’t make a lot of sense since waterlogging will become an issue and you will also have serious problems moving your terrarium once it is filled with potting soil since it will just get quite heavy.

Can you grow peas in buckets?

Growing peas in buckets is perfectly doable. In fact, those buckets can be a great alternative to classical flower pots as long as you make sure that water can run off properly by drilling some small holes into the bottom of your buckets.

Can you grow peas in bags?

While it is rather exotic, you could also try growing peas in bags.

If you want to do so, make sure to use fabric bags instead of plastic bags since they are just much stabler and water will be able to run off better.

Moreover, also use big bags so that pea plants get enough soil to grow well.

Can you grow peas in hanging baskets?

You could also try to grow peas in hanging baskets.

However, since pea plants can get quite big in the vertical, your plants would become rather unstable in those hanging baskets and I therefore suggest you just grow peas in conventional flower pots instead.

Can you grow peas in rainy climatic zones?

It is definitely possible to grow peas in rainy climatic zones.

However, make sure to utilize every hour of precious sunlight and to choose the sunniest spot in your garden or on your balcony to provide enough hours of natural sunlight to your pea plants on average.

Can you grow peas in tropical climatic zones?

While it is possible to grow peas in the tropics, many pea varieties have not been made for those extremely humid climatic zones and you should definitely choose a variety that grows well in those tropical climates to get decent growth behavior and high yields.

Can you grow peas in regions with permafrost?

Although peas are relatively resistant to the cold, they will not like frost and you will therefore not be able to grow peas outdoors if you live in regions with permafrost.

Instead, you would have to grow peas indoors or in heated greenhouses and this would imply spending large amounts of energy on your gardening project.

Quite often, it is therefore just not worth growing peas or other garden vegetables in extremely cold climates and you should rather get your veggies from the grocery store instead.

Do peas grow on vines?

Peas don’t grow on vines. Instead, they grow on plants that grow big in the vertical and can also become quite bushy in the horizontal.

You can also have a look at the videos in this article to learn how pea plants look like if you have never seen one before.

Do peas grow underground?

Neither the pea plant nor pea crops will grow underground.

Instead, both the plants as well as the crops will grow above the soil surface and this will make it quite easy for your to harvest pea plants since you will always see how your crops develop and can easily determine the optimal harvesting time.

What is the best orientation for growing peas?

Since peas grow well with a decent mix of sun and shade, you should grow them in east or west orientation to get the best results.

You could also grow peas in south orientation if you want to provide more sun to your plants.

Avoid growing peas in north orientation since they would just not get enough natural sunlight to grow well.

Can you grow peas with indirect sunlight?

You could also grow peas in greenhouses by utilizing indirect sunlight.

However, please note that this often implies additional costs for energy and equipment and that you would also not be able to provide as natural growing conditions as outdoors to your plants.

Where do peas grow best?

Peas grow best if you provide them with a half-shady spot in your garden where your peas get sufficient space and nutrients and don’t have to compete for those precious resources with many other garden plants you might want to grow at the same time.

Where to grow peas in pots?

If you want to grow peas in pots, make sure to place those pots in locations around your home where your plants get at least a few hours of sunlight per day on average and where they are protected from storms or hail at the same time.

Where to grow peas indoors?

If you want to grow peas indoors, you should choose a sunny room and also make sure that air can circulate well so that you can avoid the formation of mold or other fungus-related plant diseases.

Can you grow peas in water?

Pure water is not a good medium to grow peas in.

Hence, instead of growing peas in pure water, make sure to grow them in high-quality soil so that your pea plants get lots of nutrients and can grow fast and also produce decent yields.

Can you grow peas with LED lights?

Growing peas indoors might also be easier if you just use some form of artificial lighting.

However, this would cost you lots of money in the long run and would also be pretty bad for our environment.

Thus, instead of relying on LEDs, make sure to provide as much natural sunlight to your plants as possible.

Can you grow peas in dark rooms?

Growing peas in dark rooms is a pretty bad idea since your plants would just not get enough natural sunlight to grow well.

Hence, instead of growing peas in dark rooms, make sure to grow them in bright rooms inside your home if you really want to grow peas indoors.

Soil Requirements

Can you reuse soil for growing peas the next year?

There is no need to dispose of old soil. Instead, you can reuse soil for growing peas or other garden plants many times as long as you loosen it after each growing season and you should also make sure to add some fertilizer so that the soil will get rich in nutrients again.

Do peas grow well in waterlogged soil?

Peas don’t grow well in waterlogged soil. Consequently, make sure that water will be able to run off properly and that no water puddles form under the soil surface to avoid that the roots of your pea plants start to rot sooner or later.

Do peas grow best in acidic, neutral or alkaline soil?

Peas grow well in rather neutral soil with a soil pH between 6.5 and 7.5.

However, instead of worrying about those technical things, just get some decent soil mix from the garden center and you will be perfectly fine in this regard.

Will peas grow in sandy soil?

Even though you could grow peas in sandy soil, it would be better to rely on a more balanced soil mix since pea plants usually grow better if the fraction of sand in the soil doesn’t get too big.

Consequently, also make sure to add some potting soil if you think that your garden soil is too rich in sand.

Will peas grow well in clay soil?

Like most other plants, peas also don’t grow well in clay soil since this type of soil will just be too solid and water will not be able to run off properly.

Therefore, make sure to rely on a looser soil mix so that waterlogging will not become an issue and the roots of your plants stay healthy.

Will peas grow in compost?

You could also just grow peas on compost. In fact, peas grow quite well on compost since it is rich in nutrients and also loose enough so that excess water can run off properly.

If you want, you could also mix some potting soil into the compost and you will get a perfect soil mix to grow peas.

Plant Care

Do pea plants need a lot of water?

Peas generally need a lot of water to grow well. However, while your plants are still young, they will not consume that much water.

Yet, once your plants get bigger, their water demand will grow exponentially and you really have to make sure that your plants don’t dry up sooner or later.

Do you have to water peas on a regular basis?

Whether you have to water your plants on a regular basis greatly depends on the climatic conditions outdoors.

For instance, if it rains outside and you grow peas in your garden, there will be no need to water your plants at all.

However, during dry periods of the year, you will have to water your plants much more often.

Should you use filtered or unfiltered water to water peas?

You should use unfiltered instead of filtered water for watering peas since it is just more natural.

Moreover, it is also not worth your time to filter water for gardening purposes and you should rather use your time for things that are more important and can have a significant impact instead.

Should you use rainwater to water peas?

Using rainwater for peas and other garden plants is a great way to water your plants in a fully natural and yet economic manner.

You just need to get a rain barrel and you can start collecting rainwater during rainy periods for many dry weeks or even months yet to come in the future.

When to stake pea plants?

It is time to stake pea plants when they reach a size of around 4 inches in height since they will become more vulnerable to wind at this point in time and may not be able to deal with those harsh conditions without your help in this regard.

What to stake peas with?

One easy but yet efficient way to stake peas is to just anchor some sticks next to your plants into the ground and tie your pea plants with cord to those sticks.

This will make your plants quite resistant to winds or even heavy storms and the likelihood that your plants survive will be much higher.

What to do when pea leaves turn yellow?

If the leaves of pea plants turn yellow, this is a clear sign that you water your plants too often or too little.

Hence, if the soil is still wet, make sure to water your plants less often and see if the symptoms vanish.

If not, also add some fertilizer to provide more nutrients to your plants and you should be fine in this regard.

How to protect peas against wind?

You can just tie pea plants to sticks with cord and your plants will be protected against wind perfectly fine.

Also make sure to add additional ties once your plants get bigger so that they will not become unstable and collapse sooner or later.

How to protect peas against heavy rain?

If you grow pea seedlings indoors and wait until they reach a size of at least 2 inches in height before transplanting them outdoors, there will be no need to protect peas against heavy rain since your plants will be resistant enough to deal with it without any intervention from your side.

How to protect peas against hail?

To protect pea plants from hail, the easiest thing to do would be to just move your plants to a safe location around your home.

If this is not possible, try to cover your plants with foliage cover from the garden center and hope that this will be enough to protect your plants.

Should you pinch out peas?

I don’t recommend pinching out your plant since you would just remove precious plant material and pinching out plants is also not natural at all.

Instead, just let it grow and let nature do its work and you will be surprised of how well your plants will grow.

Where to pinch peas?

If you want to pinch out pea plants, you should do so outdoors in your garden instead of indoors in your home to keep away garden pests from your four walls and also to avoid a mess inside your home.

You will also have much more space outdoors which makes pruning your plants much easier.

Can you grow peas without fertilizer?

The better the soil mix you provide to pea plants, the better the chance that you don’t have to add additional fertilizer to the soil.

However, if you really want to maximize pea yields, you should still use some natural fertilizer to give your plants everything they need to produce the highest yields possible.

Should you cover pea plants to protect them against frost?

There is no need to cover your plants and to alter lighting conditions to protect them from frost as long as you wait with growing peas outdoors until you don’t expect frost anymore. Hence, covering your plants will not be necessary at all.

How to get rid of moss when growing peas?

Whenever you see moss on the soil, this is a good indicator that the soil is too wet and that you should slow down your watering schedule so that the soil can dry up a little bit and moss will vanish pretty soon after you do so.

Pests & Diseases

Can you grow peas without using pesticides?

Many people rely on pesticides to get rid of pests on their plants.

However, if you provide excellent growing conditions to pea plants, there will often be no need to use any pesticides at all and you can grow peas in a perfectly natural manner.

Should you use natural or chemical pesticides for pea plants?

If pest infestations are too severe, you may want to use pesticides to get relief for your plants.

However, in such a case, make sure not to use chemical pesticides but rather rely on natural alternatives to protect our environment and the soil and also to be able to harvest organic peas.

What are the most common pea pests?

Beetles, leaf miners, nematodes and aphids are quite common companions when you grow peas in your garden.

Hence, make sure to get some information on how you should treat those pests to get quick and reliable relief for your plants.

How to protect peas against pests?

You should definitely check out how to get rid of pea pests and diseases and also my pest control articles to get more information on how to get rid of various garden pests.

Growing Difficulty

Should you grow peas with children?

Growing peas with kids can be a great way to spend your time.

However, make sure that you make your gardening project interesting so that your children don’t lose interest in it rather soon and rather care for your plants in a decent manner.

Are peas good plants for a school project?

You can also grow peas as a school project. Just make sure that you adjust the growing schedule in a way that pea plants will be ready to harvest when school kids are back from vacation so that they can really see the fruits of their labor.

Is growing peas difficult?

Growing peas is not difficult. However, you still need some information if you want to grow peas in the best possible manner and I therefore highly recommend you check out all the tips and trips in this article and in my grower’s guides to expand your knowledge in this regard.

Harvest

What color do ripe peas have?

Ripe peas often have a slightly green color. However, this also greatly depends on the pea variety you want to grow and you should therefore wait with harvesting peas until they reach the desired color and size you might expect.

Can you save seeds from pea plants?

You will not be able to save actual seeds from pea plants.

The seeds are simply the peas you harvest from your plants and if you want to save seeds for future growing seasons, just harvest some peas and dry and store them in a dark and dry place inside your home.

Can peas get overripe?

If you don’t harvest peas in time, they will get overripe and will lose nutrients and flavor soon.

Peas may even rot sooner or later and you should therefore make sure to harvest them in time to get the best out of your growing project.

What parts of a pea plant can you eat?

Not only will you be able to eat peas, but you will also be able to use the plant material for salads or other plant-based dishes.

However, even though pea leaves are usually edible, it might just not be your flavor and you may just want to get rid of this plant material instead of consuming it.

Additional Questions

Is growing peas expensive?

Growing peas at home is not expensive at all. If you have a garden, you just need to get some pea seeds from the garden center or also just some peas from the grocery store will do the job as well.

Hence, you can grow peas at virtually no cost at all and almost everyone will be able to do so.

Is growing peas fun?

Growing peas and other garden vegetables can be quite a lot of fun and it can also be quite interesting to see the progress of your pea plants every day.

Moreover, it can also be relaxing to sit next to your plants after a hard workday and to really unwind from your stressful life for a while.

Do peas grow on trees?

Peas don’t grow on trees. Instead, they grow on plants that grow big in the vertical and can also get quite bushy.

If you have never seen peas before, make sure to have a look at the videos in this article to get a better idea of what pea plants really look like.

Do peas grow from flowers?

Yes, peas grow from flowers and if you don’t see any flowers on your pea plants, this will give you a clear indication that you should also not expect to get any yields.

Hence, make sure to alter growing conditions if you don’t see any flowers on your plants to get better yields in the future.

How many pea plants should you grow per pot?

Pea plants can grow quite big and you should therefore only grow one plant per pot.

Moreover, also make sure that you use big pots so that your plants get enough space and nutrients and can produce decent pea yields for you.

Which animals feed on peas?

Mice, squirrels and other rodents are well-known to feed on peas and on many other garden plants.

Consequently, you should take some protective measures to keep away those hungry intruders and to protect your garden plants in the long run.

Will your pets eat pea plants?

If you keep rabbits or other rodents as pets, you should also make sure to install a fence around your garden plants so that your pets will not be able to feed on your plants and your plants can grow well without having to worry about losing their leaves in the long run ;).

Are peas toxic for pets?

While most pets are able to digest pea plants quite well, you can never be 100% percent sure and you should therefore separate your pets from your garden plants as best as possible to both protect your pets and your plants at the same time.

Why peas grow small?

Peas grow small and don’t provide decent yields if you grow them in too shady environments and also if you don’t provide enough space for your plants.

Hence, make sure to provide a better spot in your garden and to provide more space and nutrients to your plants if you want to see better results in future years.

What to grow with peas?

There is a variety of plants that grow well with peas. Make sure to check out my pea companion plant article to learn what to grow with peas and what plants you should never grow with peas at all.

Can you grow peas from peas?

Yes, growing peas from peas is perfectly fine. In fact, this is the most common method to grow pea plants since peas will not produce any other seeds and you will have to rely on pea crops to get new plants from.

Can you grow peas from rotten fruits?

If you no longer want to use peas in your kitchen since they have already started to rot, you could still use them for growing purposes and try to grow pea seedlings from rotten fruits.

Quite often, this will work quite well and will also make your gardening project as economic as possible.

Can you grow peas without seeds?

Instead of growing peas from seed, you could also grow pea plants from seedlings from the garden center.

However, this would take away lots of precious experience from you and I therefore recommend you still grow your own pea seedlings so that you get the full growing adventure.

Do you have to pollinate peas by hand?

You don’t have to pollinate peas by hand. Instead, just let your pea plants grow and insects will do all the work for you.

Make sure to use your time on more important things instead that could really affect the outcome of your gardening project instead of worrying in this regard.

How to grow big peas?

The bigger your pea yields should be, the better you have to care for your plants.

Consequently, to maximize your yields, make sure to use only high-quality soil and also to add some fertilizer.

Moreover, also make sure to choose a nice spot in your garden where your plants get a decent mix of sun and shade.

Can you grow peas commercially?

While you could try to grow peas commercially, this is usually not a good idea since you would have to invest lots of money on equipment and farmland upfront and your business would still most likely fail since competition in this field is quite fierce.

Can you grow peas from fresh seeds?

Growing peas from fresh seeds is perfectly doable.

You just need to get some peas from the grocery store or harvest your own peas and you will be good to go.

In fact, germination rates will often be even better compared to using dried seeds from the garden center.

Can you grow peas from dried seeds?

Growing peas from dried seeds is also possible. Just dry your own peas and store them in a dark and dry place inside your home or get some dried seeds from your garden center or from an internet vendor and you will be ready to start your pea growth project.

Can you grow peas from cuttings?

You could also try growing peas from cuttings.

While this can work, you will still need some gardening experience and it is still much easier to grow peas from seeds instead of producing many cuttings from just a single plant.

Should you use a peas growing kit for growing peas?

While you can rely on pea growing kits to grow peas at home, you should rather invest your money in more solid gardening equipment that you can also use for growing many other garden vegetables at home for many years to come.

Do peas grow in the wild?

Some pea species also grow in the wild. However, those species will often look quite different from what you know from the garden center and those plants will also produce much lower yields compared to the varieties you know from the grocery store.

Should you talk to pea plants?

There is no need to talk to pea plants unless you need some therapeutic treatment.

Otherwise, just use your time more efficiently on more important things that could make a real difference for your gardening project instead.

Should you plant peas at half moon or full moon?

You don’t have to worry about the moon phase you start growing peas.

This is just an obsolete belief that has no scientific foundation whatsoever and you should therefore not care about moon phases and rather care about conditions outdoors before you start growing peas at home.

I hope you found all the information you were looking for in this article. If not, you may also want to check out my pea grower’s guide where I show you how to grow peas from seed to harvest step-by-step.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea

Own research and experience.

About the Author

My name is Andreas and I’m really passionate about our environment and also about growing plants. In fact, I have grown several different plants over many years. I love to see my plants grow and also always try new things to improve my overall conditions at home.

In my blog posts, I want to share my experiences with you so that you can become successful in growing various different plants and improving your home as well, even though you might still be a beginner right now.