Trellising green peas

I'm planning on planting a couple of 25 foot rows of early alaska green peas end of next month, and I just hate moving the peas over on their sides to pick the peas.

Looking for inexpensive, ways to trellis the peas without alot of work involved in putting up the trellis's.

I thought about putting t posts every l0 foot or so and running a bottom run of rope or heavy string, then another row about 3 to 4 foot up higher, then kind of running the string diagonal all the way down so they have something to help them stand up straight on.

Has anybody tried this? is it heavty enough to hold the peas without the trellis falling down or sagging? Don't want all the hard work if it'snot going to hold up.

Would welcome any other ideas too.

kathy

Kathy,

I used the T-posts and some "pet" fence wire with 2"x4" grids for my peas. I used plastic zip ties to secure the fence to the posts. It was strong enough and provide good support. Taking down was pretty easy, too.

David R

Howdy, Kathy!

Yes, your t-posts and string will work just fine for peas. I use the same system for anything from peas to beans and even trombocino (pic below, made with taller posts for higher growth).

If you like you can harvest your peas, then once they are gone sow some pole beans in their place, letting them grow up your strings. I'd recommend the tallest T-posts you can find though as the pole beans will easily grow 6 ft tall or more.

If you don't want to build a trellis then you can insert pea sticks in your rows, letting the plants climb up those. Much easier than stringing but you'll need to go in the woods and "harvest" the branches.

And ditto what David said, that 2X4" mesh wire is great; it also holds up better for when it is time to remove the dead plants.
Shoe

Thanks for the help, did you forget a picture shoe?

I plant a double row of peas about 8 inches apart and insert a "pet" fence between the rows while the plants are small. You can pull the plants when done and sow a fall crop in the same place.

um, I'd like to see that picture, too, Shoe!

They all sound like good ideas, want to keep from spending any money on any trellis.

I do have some field fencing though, but I usually plant bush beans instead of pole beans so I won't need the trellis for anything else.

"did you forget a picture shoe? "

Yep, dagnabbit, I sure did! Here ya go! (My bad!) ;>)

I think this one is a better pic, showing a better close up:

beautiful, worth the wait for sure.

Thanks, Shoe!

I like 'em! They are very pretty once strung up, like a piece of garden art, eh?

I tend to put up the poles and lower and upper wires and leave them in place for years. Instead of taking them down and moving them, as so many folks prefer, I tend to rotate the crops that I grow on them (rather than "rotate" the trellis). For example, early in the year plant peas, like Kathy wants to do. Once those go by then sow some pole beans. Those will grow and produce all Summer, until killed by frost/freeze.

The next year, plant some more peas again, (don't worry, early plantings of peas two years in a row won't necessarily bring on any diseases, mainly due to the cooler weather). After your peas have gone by again, use the trellis to grow cucumbers up, or a vining squash. OR, you can grow your tomatoes there, tying them to the strings.

Pretty versatile, eh?

Shoe (the bona-fide lazy person who wants to get all he can from his labors!)

I'd say you have a pretty good system there Shoe.

This past summer we used bamboo poles for beans. We had two approximately twelve-foot rows, separated by a path, and used three poles for each row. Then we affixed bamboo poles across the top and bottom with twine, to make the structure more rigid, and strung twine up and down over the top and bottom poles in a zigzag pattern the way Horseshoe did. It was a lot easier taking that down at the end of the season than it was when I used plastic fencing, which was part of my motive for trying the bamboo/twine method. Anyway, obviously you could use the same technique for peas. I've been growing bush peas just to avoid the hassle, but I really like Fortex pole beans so it was worth the bother.

We also used bamboo poles to make tripods for growing tomatoes, with a plant at the base of each. That's the way we've seen it done in France and it seems to work pretty well here, too.

This message was edited Jan 17, 2009 5:49 PM

Hey Shoe,

How high is the wire?

BocaBob

I've taken to growing the shorter varieties of peas with vines just a couple of feet long.

They require only a minimum of trellising and the whole thing is much less likely to go falling over from the weight of the peas in a high wind.

Bob, my trellises are from 6 ft to as much as 10 ft tall so I can be more versatile with whatever I plant on them. Pole beans will easily grow 8 ft or more, trombocino squash will grow umpteen feet! Most climbing peas (English) top out around 4-5 ft tall though.

Lois, every year I grow shorter growing peas for broadcasting in a wide row or in a block. If you grow Laxton's Progress #9 they remain fairly short and when broadcast they will support each other and there is no need to put up any kind of support. Growing them that close together also inhibits weed growth because the plants tend to grow so thickly they block the sun from germinating or feeding the weeds.

Here is a block of peas showing you how they support each other. As you can see they are flowering so that is about how high they get (approx 18-24").
Shoe

Makes me so envyous for spring time.

I prefer to grow the peas in rows to make them easier to pick. All the support I need for the short ones is a few stakes with twine strung from one to the other, down the middle of a row.