I have been trying to grow peas for YEARS, and I never seem to get anywhere. First I blamed the rabbits, and I fenced, then I decided I had planted too early, and planted later, then too late and planted earlier, this year we have had a nice cool spring, and I planted and got two plants, then I soaked the remaining seed for 24 hour and now I have 3 more plants. What am I doing wrong? They just won't germinate. Mrs. K

Where are you located?

South Western SoDakota

I can't really help answer your question but anyone that can would probably want to know where you were located so I asked to save them the trouble.

I am sure there will be several people along shortly that can give you some insight into your dilemma.

In the mean time, let me welcome you to the OG forum.

My peas germinate with no effort, but I'm guessing perhaps you are planting too deeply or in soil which is too heavy.

I don't plant deeper than 1 - 1/2 inch, no matter what the seed packet says, and I cover very lightly, don't tamp down. I tend to plant in rows. Heavy clay soils which retain a lot of moisture might rot the seeds, so adding organic material is key.

In zone 4, the traditional planting date is St. Patricks day, but if you have heavy wet clay soil, you would want to wait until the soil can be worked.

Good luck.

You can start sugar snap peas in those 6 packs and transplant them into your garden when they are 2-3" high. I have no idea when your soil is warm enough for them, though. We have done it for years and have had pretty good success. Ours are 7 feet tall, with peas and tons of flowers on them right now. But, we have had perfect pea weather. Not so good for my tomatoes and peppers, though.

Do you have chipmunks in the area? I have seen the chipmunks go up the rows when the seeds have just sprouted, dig up the sprout/seeds and eat them.

Some of my peas didn't do all that well this year either, I think the soil was too dry at the time of planting. Now it's a different story as it hardly stops raining.

Good to know we're not the only ones with a non-existant sugar snap pea crop! Have never had that happen before.....

Did you soak your seeds beforehand? We always do. Don't understand what was different this year.

Also planted a purple pod bush bean bought this year (need the color because my eyesight is getting worse the older I get - HA!). All of two seeds germinated and it's taken almost 3 weeks. Yet the yellow beans (dated 2005) had almost a 99% germination rate. Go figure!

Welcome, Mrs. K!

To have asked the obvious ... is the ground around your peas staying moist long enough? I got kind of spotty germination on my peas this year, but it took a bit longer than I expected.

Several years ago, I also experienced quite a bit of "pea frustration." I was used to transplanting stuff and not so used to growing things from seed. I don't think they had enough consistent moisture, way back then.

I too had some problems with germination this year for both peas and beans. I'm wondering about the quality of the seed as I've heard other's complaining about similar problems. I've never had a bit of trouble before. I do use fixer on mine when I soak them, since our weather can be a bit iffy, it just gives them a little boost.

What is "fixer"?

It's an innoculant you use for peas and beans. Most people say it's not necessary, but I've always had much better germination when I use it. You can get it from most any nursery or online site. Not very expensive either. It's a powder and you add it to the water when you soak your seed.

I grow peas in heavy clay soil (that's been amended with a good amount of compost) and have very good results. I don't pre-soak them. Have tried both transplanting and direct-sowing with no appreciable difference so now I just direct-sow because it's easier. This year I staggered my planting times but they all came up at the same time anyway so I think the early planted seeds just stayed dormant until it was warm enough for them. I've heard from people here who grew peas and beans years ago and then stopped but they still get them coming back. Hard to imagine someone complaining about that - I wish I had ten times the amount of sugar snaps since I love them so much. Wish I could tell you what your difficulty is, but I've never heard of peas being a fussy crop. How old is your seed?

I know that I have a tendency to plant everything too deep, and that this seriously slows down, or even stops peas.

I think CT has it right, after I plant and water in, several peas float to the surface and have to be pushed back in, but the only time I've had any problems is planting too late in the season. Peas want to be planted as soon as the soil can be worked but not too deep.