Plant peas this weekend?

[Anonymous]

Normally best done by St Patrick's day but this weather is insane. What do you think - good to plant peas this weekend?

[Anonymous]

I would be really worried about a freak March snowstorm. That said, you might go ahead and plant, maybe under a cloche. If you lose them due to cold, I guess you could just replant, right?
Okay, now I've talked myself into planting peas too

[Anonymous]

I'm going to. Was also going to plant some spinach and lettuce. What other things do you plant this early?

[Anonymous]

Pea planting as soon as you can work the soil. They can hard cold weather.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pea planting as soon as you can work the soil. They can hard cold weather.

+1

[Anonymous]

I have some under a cold frame, and I also planted some unprotected last weekend.

[Anonymous]

So... the peas I planted last weekend are probably germinating right now. Will they die if we get frost tomorrow? Can I/ do I need to protect them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So... the peas I planted last weekend are probably germinating right now. Will they die if we get frost tomorrow? Can I/ do I need to protect them?

They should be fine. Rule of thumb is as soon as ground can be worked. around here, I always try to get mine in before the end of February. Later than that, it will be too hot for setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So... the peas I planted last weekend are probably germinating right now. Will they die if we get frost tomorrow? Can I/ do I need to protect them?

They should be fine. Rule of thumb is as soon as ground can be worked. around here, I always try to get mine in before the end of February. Later than that, it will be too hot for setting.

Thank you. After posting, I googled the issue and found that young peas can stand temperatures down to 28F just fine, will suffer some damage from temps down to 20F, and are toast (bad metaphor here) below that. I guess we are in the middle range so I'll see...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So... the peas I planted last weekend are probably germinating right now. Will they die if we get frost tomorrow? Can I/ do I need to protect them?

They should be fine. Rule of thumb is as soon as ground can be worked. around here, I always try to get mine in before the end of February. Later than that, it will be too hot for setting.

Thank you. After posting, I googled the issue and found that young peas can stand temperatures down to 28F just fine, will suffer some damage from temps down to 20F, and are toast (bad metaphor here) below that. I guess we are in the middle range so I'll see...

PP here again. Well, I think I may have lost them. They still haven't emerged, and I dug up one end of the row and didn't find anything sprouting in the soil. It may have been the cold, but it may also have been a matter of drought, as I neglected to water while it was so cold.

I'm assuming it's too late to replant and get any crop before warm season vegetables go in?

[Anonymous]

Well, no. The ground is too wet to plant anything--even in town. Workable soil doesn't just mean soil soft enough to dig into! The soil should clump in your hand like chocolate cke when you clench it in your closed hand and then crumble apart when you open your hand. You'll ruin the tilth and tooth of your soil by working it before it has sufficiently dried out.

In town that's around March 15, in the burbs late March for peas. Otherwise they'lljust rot in the cold wet ground.



of course in a sunny raised bed or a cold frame--heck plant them in January!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, no. The ground is too wet to plant anything--even in town. Workable soil doesn't just mean soil soft enough to dig into! The soil should clump in your hand like chocolate cke when you clench it in your closed hand and then crumble apart when you open your hand. You'll ruin the tilth and tooth of your soil by working it before it has sufficiently dried out.

In town that's around March 15, in the burbs late March for peas. Otherwise they'lljust rot in the cold wet ground.



of course in a sunny raised bed or a cold frame--heck plant them in January!

This has been a pretty droughty winter in DC, so I doubt anyone's soil has been too wet until now... That said, all my vegetables are grown in raised beds anyway.

[Anonymous]

Remember winter seeding for next year. Put air and water holes in plastic containers with lids -- gallon milk jugs, long lettuce containers etc. -- and plant seeds in potting soil and water. Place outside. They will start sprouting when it is time and you are ahead of the game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So... the peas I planted last weekend are probably germinating right now. Will they die if we get frost tomorrow? Can I/ do I need to protect them?

They should be fine. Rule of thumb is as soon as ground can be worked. around here, I always try to get mine in before the end of February. Later than that, it will be too hot for setting.

Thank you. After posting, I googled the issue and found that young peas can stand temperatures down to 28F just fine, will suffer some damage from temps down to 20F, and are toast (bad metaphor here) below that. I guess we are in the middle range so I'll see...

PP here again. Well, I think I may have lost them. They still haven't emerged, and I dug up one end of the row and didn't find anything sprouting in the soil. It may have been the cold, but it may also have been a matter of drought, as I neglected to water while it was so cold.

I'm assuming it's too late to replant and get any crop before warm season vegetables go in?

I suspect it's water. I put mine in around the same time as yours, but was watering religiously. The soil was bone dry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So... the peas I planted last weekend are probably germinating right now. Will they die if we get frost tomorrow? Can I/ do I need to protect them?

They should be fine. Rule of thumb is as soon as ground can be worked. around here, I always try to get mine in before the end of February. Later than that, it will be too hot for setting.

Thank you. After posting, I googled the issue and found that young peas can stand temperatures down to 28F just fine, will suffer some damage from temps down to 20F, and are toast (bad metaphor here) below that. I guess we are in the middle range so I'll see...

PP here again. Well, I think I may have lost them. They still haven't emerged, and I dug up one end of the row and didn't find anything sprouting in the soil. It may have been the cold, but it may also have been a matter of drought, as I neglected to water while it was so cold.

I'm assuming it's too late to replant and get any crop before warm season vegetables go in?

I suspect it's water. I put mine in around the same time as yours, but was watering religiously. The soil was bone dry.

PP here. Agree that lack of watering was likely the culprit. How stupid of me, I should have known better. But - I see now that a few plants are coming up - maybe about a quarter of what I had planted. So at least I'll have a few plants to see how it goes (this was my first time planting peas).