This year instead of tomatoes, I decided to try growing peas in a container. I really don’t think we have enough sun and heat for tomatoes, so for the amount of effort I put in each year, I end up with a very small harvest. I thought peas may work on my patio for several reasons:
1) There are a couple of compact bush varieties that do not get super huge. Dwarf varieties are good because you will likely just need to stake them for additional support rather than build a net or trellis needed for climbing varieties.
I will try the variety Little Marvel, a bush variety shelling pea, in my 12″ container. They should only grow to approximately 18″ tall.
I also decided to try Oregon Sugar Pod, a vine variety snow pea, in my hanging 10″ container. These have short vines that will grow to about 30″, which I thought would be perfect to try in a hanging basket usually used for flowers.
2) Peas are suited for cooler climates, which in southern BC we know temperatures don’t usually heat up until June. This means that there is potential to plant successively and harvest 2-3 times through the year if you plant early enough.
3) Peas can be planted in tight quarters, requiring only 1 inch between seeds and a soil depth of approximately 12 inches. I will try to plant about 12 seeds in a circle in the centre of a 12″ diameter pot.
4) Peas and other legumes serve double duty in the garden as nitrogen fixers. They have little nodes on their roots which help these plants access nitrogen from the atmosphere, and when the plant dies the nitrogen is released into the soil benefiting the veggies you plant in that container next year. Using an inoculant will enhance this process. In the picture above, the light brown stuff is inoculant powder.
Planting notes: For both pots, Sea Soil is the primary growing medium. It was amended with eggshells and organic kelp-based dry fertilizer. Inoculant was added to the soil where the seeds were planted. Seeds were then covered with 1″ of Sea Soil and watered thoroughly. Seeds were not pre-soaked, as we have rain forecast for the upcoming week and temperatures are still low (3-7 degrees Celsius), so the soil should not dry out too much. However, this may extend the germination period by a few days.
Sources and for more information:
West Coast Seeds – Growing guide for peas
Annette McFarlane – Growing peas info sheet
Backyard Gardening Blog – How to grow garden peas
Wikipedia – Nitrogen fixation
