Do Snap Peas Need A Trellis
Today we are going to answer the question, do snap peas need a trellis? We are also going to look at how to best care for your Garden peas, to keep them happy and healthy, and have the best harvest possible. You will not want to miss out on any of the details that follow, especially if you enjoy being a home gardener.
Did you know that you can grow your own snap peas, and other varieties of peas in your garden? These are similar peas that you can buy at your grocery stores, but unlike Starbucks peas, homegrown peas taste so much better. Plus, you can grow peas in your own garden, for a fraction of the cost of buying them from the store.
Perhaps you are new to gardening, or simply haven’t grown peas in your garden before. No matter where you are coming from, you might be able to learn a thing or two about growing peas in your garden this year. Let’s begin first by looking at the different varieties of peas including bush peas and climbing peas.
Climbing Peas vs Bush Peas
Bush Peas
Bush varieties of peas tend to grow in more of a bushy shape. These peas still produce a crop like climbing peas, but bush peas do not have to have a trellis to grow well.
Climbing Peas
Most types of pea plants that you can grow in your garden are going to be climbing peas. You can tell if they are climbing first by the seed packet. The details on the back of the package should tell whether they are claiming varieties or not.
Another way to tell, if you have already planted your seeds, is to look at the plant. If they are tall and skinny and have feelers at the end of the plant, this means that they are looking for something to climb up.
Any type of climbing pea plant should have a type of trellis to climb up in order for them to produce the best harvest.
Sugar snap pea seeds specifically are a type of climbing peas. Sugar snap peas will do the best when they have a trellis or something for the plants to climb.
Sugar Snaps
Sugar snap peas are a type of very delicious, sweet peas. They grow in a large pea pod, have edible pods, and also grow on climbing pea plants. These sweet peas are known specifically for being a cool weather plant. Adding sugar snap peas to your garden makes for a delicious addition to your vegetable garden.
The sugar snap pea plants are easy to grow, as long as the pea vines have something to grow up. Peas can be harvested beginning in early spring and are typically produced all season long.
Short Answer: Do Snap Peas Need A Trellis?
The short answer is that yes, for the best results sugar snap peas should have a trellis. When you use a pea trellis for sugar snap peas, it will allow your peas to grow much better, and you will have more peas to harvest than if you did not use a trellis.
Essentially, when you use a trellis with climbing peas, such as snap peas, they will be able to be healthier and happier plants, and as a result, will produce more vegetables for you to enjoy eating.
Trellis Ideas for Snap Peas
When it comes to different types of trellises that you might like to use for your snap peas, there are several different options. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, or expensive to work well as a trellis for your P vines to climb on. Here are a few ideas for you to get you started thinking.
Chicken Wire
Chicken wire is an easy idea to use as your trellis for your snap peas. Usually, you can find chicken wire for a low cost, or you can even find it used online, for a very low price.
To use chicken wire as a trellis, you can cut a small piece of chicken wire however wide you need it to be, then stick the ends of the wire with t-posts, conduits, sticks, or whatever you have to hold the fence in place.
You can then plant your peas along the base of the chicken wire, then as it grows it will climb the fence. Using a trellis for your peas will help them to produce vegetables for you all summer long.
Cattle Panel (or Hog Panel)
Using a cattle panel as an arch trellis for your peas to grow on is a beautiful and fun way to enhance the appeal of your vegetable garden. A cattle panel is a section of fence, that is fairly solid.
You can bend the panel of the fence into an arch shape and plant the peas at the base of each side of the fence. This allows your peas to grow up the fencing in the shape of an arch. Typically, peas will not grow to cover the entire cattle panel fencing but may grow to cover a few feet on each side.
Bamboo Poles
Another simple, and low-cost option for a trellis for your peas is to use bamboo poles, or another type of stick, or a dowel rod. These poles will give your peas something to climb up. You can stick the bamboo poles directly in your garden, near the base of your pea plants. Or you can form the bamboo poles into a tepee-like shape and use string to hold the poles together. If you choose to use bamboo poles or another type of stick as your pea trellis, they make a great option to form a small trellis for your snap pea plants.
Tomato Cages
Tomato cages are another easy option to trellis your peas. Tomato cages are small and reasonably priced. You can plant your peas in a circle around the base of the cage, or in the center of your cage, then allow the pea plants to climb the tomato cage. This is a great option for a small trellis, and support system for your pea plants.
String
Another easy option to trellis your pea plants is to use steaks or sticks, then run string between the poles, to give your pea plants something to climb up. This is a low-cost option and can work well during the growing season. Another great thing about using string for the pea plants to climb on is that you can make your string trellis as large or as small as needed.
Ladder
Another great option is if you have an old stepladder laying around. This makes a great option for your snap peas to grow up. In addition to using an actual ladder, you can use some boards that you might have lying around, and nail or screw them in the shape of a small ladder.
Small boards in the shape of a small ladder will give the peas a great option to climb up and make a nice trellis for a low cost.
Pallet Trellis
Another low-cost option is to use pallets as a sort of trellis for your snap peas. You can use one pallet, with a stick going through the middle of it to hold it up so that the peas can climb it. Or another great option is to use two pallets and secure them in an A-frame shape, for the peas to climb up both sides.
Main Types of Peas
There are many different varieties of peas that can be grown in your garden. Snap pea varieties are a great option to include in your home vegetable garden, and as we have already covered. They do prefer a trellis for the ultimate growing. However, they can be grown without a trellis. Some other types of peas include the following:
Sugar Peas
Sugar peas are different from sugar snap peas because sugar peas have a much flatter pod compared to the peas than snap peas do. Sugar peas are also a climbing variety of peas and do much better when they have a trellis to climb up. Sugar peas are sometimes referred to as English peas.
English Peas
English peas have a type of thicker pod to them, which is waxy in texture. The pea pods of English peas are not edible. Only the peas from this type of plant should be eaten. Peas are much different from snap peas, in which the Pea pod and peas can be eaten.
Snow Peas
Snow peas are also different from snap peas because snow peas have a flat pods with very thin walls to the pea pods. They are edible peas grown in edible pea pods. Snow peas are known for being tender, and crisp at the same time. Whereas snap peas are known for their sweeter flavor.
Growing Season of Sugar Snap Peas
As we have already mentioned, sugar snap peas are a thicker pea in which the pea pod and the peas inside are both edible. These peas make for a delicious dish you can enjoy with very few other ingredients. So, what is the best time to grow snap peas in your garden?
The best time for growing snap peas is in the early spring. Peas are a cool weather crop and should be planted soon after, or sometimes even before, the last frost date. Peas are one of the things you can plant early in the season, and even enjoy an early spring harvest when peas are planted so early in the season.
Depending on the type of pea, most peas can be planted in cold soil directly in your garden beds. They will grow into pea seedlings, which can usually withstand a light frost if necessary. It’s best to plant a seed as soon as the chance of frost is gone from your location, but other sources say that you can plant your peas in the soil even before the last frost of the spring is done. You can then enjoy the first harvest as soon as late spring.
When cared for correctly, the pea plants will continue to grow all season long, allowing you to harvest peas into the late summer, or even sometimes early fall. When the first frost of the year comes in the fall, this will end your fall harvest, and kill off the plants for the year.
If your pea plants are heirloom, you can allow the pea pods to dry on your vines, then save your peas to plant again early next spring.
Planting Peas
You can begin planting your peas as soon as the soil temperature reaches 40°F at your location. The best temperature to plant your seeds will be when your soil temperature is around 60°F, which will allow the seeds to grow into pea seedlings and young plants quickly when pea seeds are sown directly and soil that is colder than 60°F may take a little bit longer for them to sprout. Source
When you plant sugar snap peas, it is best to plant them in a location that has full sun, or partial sun. Peas will not grow when they are planted in full shade.
Before planting your peas seeds, it’s also a good idea to make sure that your soil is appropriate for the peas to grow. Ideally, you want to have well-drained soil, or good drainage, so that the peas don’t get flooded out, or become too dry. Instead, they should be nicely watered, in well-draining soil, for them to grow properly.
You don’t have to have a whole lot of space for peas to grow. They can grow just fine in small spaces, or small areas. Especially if you have a trellis for them to grow up.
When it is the right time, your soil temperatures are warm enough, you can begin planting your pea seeds directly in the soil. Plant them at the bottom of the trellis, or at the sides of the trellis, then as they begin to grow you may have to guide the plants to the trellis, and then they will take it from there.
As your peas begin to grow, make sure they have plenty of water, but not enough water to flood out the plants. Continue to harvest and care for your pea plants throughout the entire growing season.
Diseases and Pests for Snap Peas
Like with all garden plants, your snap pea plants also have the risk of pests and diseases causing havoc for your plants. Snap pea plants are most susceptible to fungal diseases such as powdery mildew which can appear on your plants when they have been watered too much, or the growing season has become too humid, causing mold and mildew to grow on the plants.
Other pests that your snap pea plants may encounter are pea moths, which try to attack the plants and may kill them if not dealt with. One of the best ways to avoid having to deal with these pests, or to plant your pea is as soon as the ground temperature is warm enough.
Growing Snap Peas
Growing snap peas in your garden is such a fun addition to your garden vegetables. If you are wondering if you must have a trellis for your snap peas, the answer is no, you do not have to have a trellis. However, snap peas will do much better during the growing season and produce more peas when they are grown on a trellis. The trellis does not have to be expensive or extravagant, essentially the snap peas just need something to grow up, to produce a much better harvest.
I hope that these tips and tricks for growing snap peas in your vegetable garden have been helpful to you. I don’t claim to know everything, but I do have some experience in growing peas in my garden. I hope that these tips and tricks have been helpful to you in growing peas in your vegetable garden this year. Happy gardening, and good luck! Thank you for stopping by, to check out do snap peas need a trellis.
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