America Wonder pea

javafxnoob · January 22, 2018

Winter is the time for me to reading and watch gardening videos and gathering impressions from last year combined with planing next season for my small garden. I was reading about pea and its roots with Nitrogen "fixing" ability. Almost instantly, idea was born to plant pea in location where I want to plant tomatoes in May.

But there is something I don't understand and would appreciate opinions from more experienced gardeners.

Weather here is different than last year, night temperatures rarely above zero these days, daily 2-10 degree Celsius. And forecast say it will continue that way, so probably no hard frosts until spring, it is not normal but I can't complain.

Like I wrote, my idea is to plant pea, some early variety like America Wonder and to harvest it until start of May. Then, to leave roots in ground while planting tomatoes on that location.

American Wonder pea info on company site where I intend to buy it say: "Very early variety, technological maturity reach for little less than 60 days". Does that mean days to harvest is 60 days? Later it say on same item something like "med-variety, need 70 days from sprouting to full technological maturity". Really confusing.

My questions are:

After planting in ground (seed) what is average number of days until harvest?
How to use pea plants residues to benefit later crops (tomato)? Just to leave them on the ground or to dig them in soil?

Looking forward for answers. Thanks in advance.

greenthumbomaha · January 22, 2018

I didn't have a positive experience mixing the two crops. The peas took longer than I thought. Planting the tomatoes was difficult without damaging the stand of peas. The peas were shading out the tomatoes at first. Then the pea vines naturally went to leaf crunch in as the weather warmed. How do you incorporate it into the soil without damaging the roots. Can't do that!

I read its hard to jump Mother Nature, but several growers germinate their peas either indoors in coir or on a wet paper towel . I didn't find any direct comparisons to see if this resulted in earlier cropping but you can give it a try, especially if your garden is small.

Good luck!

Gardeneer · April 17, 2018

I direct sowed some snap peas , I think it was in late Feb. Took them weeks to pop up. But i planted some Early Alaska peas, not too long ago. Now they are catching up with the sweet peas.
Sure, you can sow/grow peas real early BUT they need some warm soil and air to grow.
My climate is not very good for spring cold cropss we have a short cool spring. Summer arr8ves in June.

TexasTomat0 · April 17, 2018

I've had the same experience as Gardeneer. I sowed nearly at the same time and I'm just now getting peas on the plants, and its already starting to get too hot for them. I just wanted to try fresh peas, as I don't think I've ever had them. I'll probably try again in the fall for my region.

If you're trying to mix them with Tomatoes, which I am also, I just cut the plants at the base near the soil and leave the roots to decompose in the ground. You could also till in the foliage, if you don't mind disturbing the soil.

MickyT · April 17, 2018

I've also attempted to direct seed as well as transplant peas early to try to get a harvest before putting in another crop. But regardless of how early I start the peas they still produce well through June and even into July so for me I'd have to follow them with fall crops rather than summer fruiting crops like tomatoes..

January 22, 2018	#1
javafxnoob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Serbia - Zone 7b Posts: 119	America Wonder pea Winter is the time for me to reading and watch gardening videos and gathering impressions from last year combined with planing next season for my small garden. I was reading about pea and its roots with Nitrogen "fixing" ability. Almost instantly, idea was born to plant pea in location where I want to plant tomatoes in May. But there is something I don't understand and would appreciate opinions from more experienced gardeners. Weather here is different than last year, night temperatures rarely above zero these days, daily 2-10 degree Celsius. And forecast say it will continue that way, so probably no hard frosts until spring, it is not normal but I can't complain. Like I wrote, my idea is to plant pea, some early variety like America Wonder and to harvest it until start of May. Then, to leave roots in ground while planting tomatoes on that location. American Wonder pea info on company site where I intend to buy it say: "Very early variety, technological maturity reach for little less than 60 days". Does that mean days to harvest is 60 days? Later it say on same item something like "med-variety, need 70 days from sprouting to full technological maturity". Really confusing. My questions are: After planting in ground (seed) what is average number of days until harvest? How to use pea plants residues to benefit later crops (tomato)? Just to leave them on the ground or to dig them in soil? Looking forward for answers. Thanks in advance. __________________ “He who plants a garden plants happiness.” Chinese proverb Last edited by javafxnoob; January 22, 2018 at 09:05 AM. Reason: grammar corections

April 17, 2018	#3
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,916	I direct sowed some snap peas , I think it was in late Feb. Took them weeks to pop up. But i planted some Early Alaska peas, not too long ago. Now they are catching up with the sweet peas. Sure, you can sow/grow peas real early BUT they need some warm soil and air to grow. My climate is not very good for spring cold cropss we have a short cool spring. Summer arr8ves in June. __________________ Gardeneer Happy Gardening !

January 22, 2018	#2
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	I didn't have a positive experience mixing the two crops. The peas took longer than I thought. Planting the tomatoes was difficult without damaging the stand of peas. The peas were shading out the tomatoes at first. Then the pea vines naturally went to leaf crunch in as the weather warmed. How do you incorporate it into the soil without damaging the roots. Can't do that! I read its hard to jump Mother Nature, but several growers germinate their peas either indoors in coir or on a wet paper towel . I didn't find any direct comparisons to see if this resulted in earlier cropping but you can give it a try, especially if your garden is small. Good luck!

April 17, 2018	#4
TexasTomat0 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Central Texas - Zone 8A Posts: 196	I've had the same experience as Gardeneer. I sowed nearly at the same time and I'm just now getting peas on the plants, and its already starting to get too hot for them. I just wanted to try fresh peas, as I don't think I've ever had them. I'll probably try again in the fall for my region. If you're trying to mix them with Tomatoes, which I am also, I just cut the plants at the base near the soil and leave the roots to decompose in the ground. You could also till in the foliage, if you don't mind disturbing the soil.

April 17, 2018	#5
MickyT Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: North Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 46	I've also attempted to direct seed as well as transplant peas early to try to get a harvest before putting in another crop. But regardless of how early I start the peas they still produce well through June and even into July so for me I'd have to follow them with fall crops rather than summer fruiting crops like tomatoes..