Planting Peas In Large Containers

Finally! The day weather is warmer and the nights are still frosting. And that means peas and cool weather vegetables can be started. I planted a lot today. All the seeds I started will be eft to grow outside. They can take the cold. I am starting my cool weather garden with peas.

I planted 2 varieties of peas. One is a dwarf 2 foot vine of the sugar pod variety. The other is a full growing vine with stringless  pods. I highly recommend stringless pods.

This is an 18 gallon container I think. I bought it last year. I cleaned out the old growth and loosened the soil. I used a tomato cage and some stakes for pea support. The peas going in here are a dwarf variety called Sugar Sprint.

Peas aren't difficult to plant. You don't need to do much but supply soil. They make their own nitrogen and do well with loose soil.  You can see the peas are spaced about 3-4 inches. The packets say seed every 2 inches and then thin to 6 inches. With raised beds you can keep things much closer. This container provides the peas with a lot of depth for root development.

The peas were pushed down (with my finger) to about 2 inches. They got  a good drink and I am done with peas. Next is cleaning my containers and starting lettuces and kales.

This variety is Goliath. They grow large vines. I am using a tomato cage, some taller stakes, and the fence behind the container to support them. The spacing is at least 4 inches and I only put 4 seeds to a row instead of 5 like I did above. That is because these peas are not dwarf varieties.

After the peas are harvested, tomatoes will go in these containers.