Peas are a valuable legume that is grown practically throughout Russia. The plant is characterized by frost resistance, early maturity and high nutritional value of the fruit. From the article you will learn about the intricacies of planting and caring for peas, as well as methods of dealing with the most dangerous diseases and pests of the crop.
Characteristics of culture
Peas are an annual herbaceous crop, which, depending on the variety, can reach a height of 1.5 m. The plant can have a creeping or standard stem, straight or branching. At its top and in internodes, there are modified leaves - antennae, which braid the support located nearby. The leaves are light green, paired.
Peas have a branched tap root system that grows into the soil to a depth of 0.8-1 m. In the nodes of small roots and branches, nodule bacteria develop, saturating the soil with nitrogen.
Flowering begins 1-1.5 months after sowing the seeds. The flowers are beige, purple or pinkish, located in the leaf axils in several pieces. Peas are classified as self-pollinating crops, but cases of partial cross-pollination are known.
The fruit is a bivalve pod with 4 to 10 seeds in a row. The seed coat can be green to deep purple, and can be smooth or wrinkled. Peas are of 2 types:
- Sugar. The inner side of the green shoulder blades does not contain a parchment layer, so it can be eaten with peas. The seeds of the sugar varieties are smaller, but juicy and sweet.
- Peeling. The rough, tasteless shells of the shell peas are not eaten. When fully ripe, the beans are cut from the bush and only edible seeds are extracted. Such peas can be eaten both fresh and stored.
The most popular sugar varieties of peas are: Children's, Honey pod, Karaganda. Of the peeling varieties, they have proven themselves well: Early, Excellent, Winner.
Planting peas in open ground
Peas are an easy-to-care, early ripening crop. The plant is grown in a seedless way by direct sowing of seeds into the ground. After planting, the first shoots are shown in 5-10 days. When purchasing seeds, pay attention to the length of the growing season for peas. In specialized stores you can find both early and mid-early as well as late varieties.
Before sowing, it is necessary to carry out preparatory measures:
- choose a suitable site;
- correctly determine the sowing time;
- prepare the soil;
- process the seeds.
Seat selection
The herbaceous plant thrives and bears fruit in open, sunny and well-ventilated areas. The best precursors for peas are nightshade and pumpkin crops.
Since peas have a taproot system, it is impossible to choose an area with a high groundwater table. Being constantly in a waterlogged state, the root will begin to rot and the plant will die.
Climatic conditions for growing
Regions with a temperate climate are best suited for vegetable crops, but with the right selection of varieties, you can get rich yields in cooler conditions. Young seedlings can tolerate a drop in temperature to -6 degrees without damage, and flowering plants - up to +2 degrees.
An experienced gardener in his video talks about when to plant and how to grow peas in the open field:
The optimum temperature for the formation of ovaries ranges from +12 to +15 degrees, for the growth of beans - from +17 to +21. Due to its high frost resistance, the plant is grown practically throughout Russia, including the central and northwestern regions.
Sowing time
Since pea seeds germinate at a temperature of +1 degrees, the culture is sown in open ground quite early. The sowing time is chosen based on the climatic features of the region where the site is located and weather conditions. In Siberia, the beginning of May is considered a favorable period for planting legumes, in the central regions - the first decade of April. In areas with milder climates, peas can be sown from mid-March.
Soil and lighting requirements
For sowing pea seeds, choose an area with light, fertile soil. For the plant to develop properly, the soil pH should be between 6-7. On acidic soils, peas grow slowly, often get sick. Does not like the culture and soils supersaturated with readily available nitrogen, which threatens with a delay in flowering and ripening of the crop. The culture is light-requiring, so choose a sunny area that is protected from drafts.
The best neighbors of peas
Nodule bacteria that develop on the roots of peas saturate the soil with nitrogen, which is very beneficial for most garden crops. This neighborhood is especially beneficial for the harvest of cucumbers, carrots and turnips.
Planting together with herbs, especially mustard, will help protect the peas from the moth and inhibit weed growth. Neighborhood with tomatoes has a beneficial effect on the growth of the green mass of legumes, and also improves the quality of the crop.
Soil preparation
The land is prepared in the fall:
- The site must be dug deeply and half a bucket of compost, 35 g of superphosphate and 25 g of potassium chloride per 1 sq. m.
- If the soil on the site is acidic, add wood ash along with fertilizers at the rate of 100 g per sq. m. Then dig up again and pour water over the area.
Presowing seed treatment
Seed preparation is an important step towards a rich pea crop. First of all, you need to select the defective peas. Dissolve 30 g of table salt in 1 liter of water and pour the seed into the resulting saline solution. Full-fledged quality seeds will settle at the bottom, and rejected ones will remain on the surface.
Some gardeners recommend germinating seeds before planting. To do this, just wrap the peas in a damp cloth and put them in a container, covering it with a lid or wrapping it with cling film. A kind of greenhouse is placed in a warm place for a day.
You can warm up the seed just before planting by filling the seeds with water at about 50 degrees for 5 minutes. After warming up, peas must be thoroughly dried with a napkin or laid out in the sun.
Pea seed sowing process
After completing all the preparatory work, you can start sowing seeds. Pea planting technology is as follows:
- In the prepared area, make grooves 5-8 cm deep. The distance between the rows should be at least 40-50 cm.
- Sprinkle the furrows with a mixture of wood ash, compost and fertile soil in a layer of 2-3 cm.
- Spill the grooves liberally with water.
- Sow the seeds 5-6 cm apart.
- Cover the furrows with soil and tamp it down.
Plant care
Peas are undemanding to care for. If you have properly prepared the site and sowed the seeds, then the plants will not give you much trouble. Pea care consists in timely watering, loosening the soil, and regular feeding. Some varieties also require a garter.
It is especially important to pay attention to peas during the period of budding and pouring of fruits, since it is at this time that the plant spends all its energy on the formation of the future harvest. Insufficient care can lead to a deterioration in the quality of the beans and a decrease in the productivity of the bushes.
Watering
Peas love frequent, abundant watering, especially in regions with hot, dry summers. For proper development, plants need at least 10 liters of water per square meter. m landings. During the period of active growth, peas should be watered 1-2 times a week. From the beginning of flowering, moisten the soil every 3 days.
Plants are able to withstand short-term drought during the period of seedling growth. If you do not provide the peas with sufficient watering during the period of fruit filling, this can lead to a premature end of fruiting and a lack of harvest.
Garter
Most of the popular pea varieties have a lodging stem. For full development and better illumination, the plant needs to cling to the support. It is necessary to tie the peas when the stem grows 10-15 cm in length. As a support, you can use:
- metal or wooden stakes, from which the trellis is formed;
- special nets for climbing plants;
- arches for a greenhouse.
Pinching the tops
Some experienced gardeners advise pinching the top of the pea stem when it reaches a height of 20-25 cm. In this case, new lateral shoots will appear from the growing point, which will also yield a crop over time. The plant will become more branchy and grow less tall.
Protection of seedlings from birds
Birds hunt both freshly planted legume seeds and young seedlings. Most often, the beds suffer from the invasion of crows, blackbirds and rooks.
Plants can be protected from birds with the help of light-transmitting covering material or special nets. To do this, pegs are driven in along the perimeter of the site and the material is pulled over the landing site. You can also cover the beds in the manner of a greenhouse, by constructing a frame of metal arcs and already pulling a net on them.
Loosening the soil
Planting peas is recommended to regularly loosen and weed. It is best to carry out these activities after watering. 7-10 days after the first shoots, be sure to loosen the soil and huddle the plants. This is necessary to saturate the soil and root system with oxygen.
Features of feeding
The first feeding of peas in the open field is carried out during the active growth of green mass before flowering. During this period, it is better to use organic fertilizers, such as nettle infusion or mullein solution. Liquid fertilizer is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10 and the plantings are watered at the rate of 3 liters per 1 sq. m.
After flowering, the bushes can be fed with nitroammophos. Dissolve 1 tbsp. l. powder in 10 liters of water and water your beds.
Pest and disease control
In case of non-observance of agricultural technology and adverse weather conditions, peas are often exposed to various diseases. The most dangerous of them are:
- Fusarium root rot - an incurable disease caused by fusarium fungi. It is manifested by yellowing of the lower leaves, the appearance of brown spots on the lower part of the stem. Over time, the taproot dies off and the plant dries out. After harvesting peas, be sure to destroy all plant debris to prevent the spread of disease.
- Rust Is the most common legume disease in all climatic zones. Bushes are affected during the budding period and the beginning of flowering. The leaves are covered with brown powdery pustules, which turn almost black by the end of summer. The affected leaves die off, the growth of the bush slows down. You can fight the fungus by spraying the bush with 1% Bordeaux liquid at least 20 days before harvesting.
- Powdery mildew - a fungal disease that affects the leaves, stems and beans of peas. The affected part of the plant is covered with grayish-white spots, which acquire a brown color over time. The bush suffers from lack of nutrition, growth stops, the quality of the fruit decreases. Spray the bushes with 1% colloidal sulfur to stop the disease.
- Ascochitosis - a dangerous disease that can lead to the death of the entire planting of peas on the site. Young shoots die immediately, adult plants are inhibited in growth, lose a significant part of the leaves and stems. The disease can be recognized by the presence of dry spots with brown dots along the border. If you find a problem, immediately spray the plantings with 0.4% copper oxychloride.
Fusarium root rot
Rust on peas
Powdery mildew on peas
Pea ascochitis
Often, peas also suffer from pests. The main enemies of culture are pea moth and scoop... The former lays eggs on young leaves during flowering. The hatched caterpillars invade the beans and eat the seeds.
The pea scoop prefers to lay its eggs on the underside of the leaves. After hatching, young green caterpillars devour the green mass on the bushes. It is recommended to fight these pests with the help of wormwood infusion. To prepare it, pour 200 g of chopped grass with 10 liters of water and boil for 45 minutes. Treat pea leaves with infusion during egg laying 1-2 times a week.
Harvesting and storage
Pea pods are ready for consumption within 1-1.5 months after flowering. The beans mature gradually and should be harvested every 2-3 days. The fruits of the lower tier ripen first. Depending on the variety, from 1 sq. m of pea planting, you can collect about 4 kg of crop.
Harvested green peas quickly wither and deteriorate even in the refrigerator, so it is not recommended to keep them fresh for more than 5 days. For long-term storage, young sugar fruits are canned or frozen.
You can dry peas:
- First, boil it in boiling water for 2 minutes, then fold it on a sieve and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
- After that, place the fruits in the oven for an hour and dry at 50 degrees.
- Let cool.
- The second time, place the peas in the oven for the same time, preheating it to 70 degrees.
- It is recommended to store dried peas in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid.
Secrets of a rich harvest
To get a rich harvest of peas, you should follow a few simple rules:
- Plow the area at least 25 cm deep before planting the seeds. Deep digging will increase soil aeration, which will positively affect the development of the plant's root system.
- Try to purchase seeds of varieties that are resistant to major diseases of peas.
- Harvest as often as possible during fruiting, as overripe pods inhibit the growth of young ones.
- To feast on young peas all summer long, sow the seeds at several times at intervals of 2 weeks.
- Peas do not set fruit well in extreme heat, so try to plant the crop as early as possible, taking into account the weather conditions in your region.
The cultivation of peas is not difficult. The main thing is to adhere to simple rules and tips, and you can get a rich harvest.