Grow garden sugar snap peas (Best support for sugar snap peas, thinning, winter prep) – Grow peas
Growing sugar snap pea plants in organic cultivation. This time, I will attend to sugar snap pea plant care. We set up support stakes and strings after thinning, and we also take cold protection measures.
Thinning sugar snap peas (Snap pea care)
Sugar snap peas are sown in early November and grow well. Thinning is done to leave 2 plants per hole. When thinning sugar snap peas, cut the base with scissors.
https://www.vege-try.net/en/seed-snap-peas-2021-enWhen overwintering snap peas, leave those with a height of about 15cm (6 in.). A height of around 15cm (6 in.) is the most cold-resistant and suitable for overwintering. It’s not good if it’s too small, and it’s also not good if it grows too big. Small snap pea plants may wither in the cold, and if they grow too big, they can be damaged by frost.
Staking snap peas (Best support for sugar snap peas)
Next, set up stakes in the sugar snap pea bed. Prepare 4 stakes with a diameter of 1.6cm (0.63 inches) and a length of 150cm (4.9 feet). Since we’ll be attaching twines later, ribbed surface design stakes are recommended. (Ribbed design helps prevent the twines from slipping down.)
To set up the stakes, first, push the stakes into the ground by hand. It’s okay if the stake goes into the ground about 25cm (10 in) deep. If the soil is too compact and the stake doesn’t go in easily, just push it in as far as it will go for now.
Then, use a hammer to drive the stake in an additional 10cm (4 in). A point to note is not to drive the stake in too deeply. If you drive it in too deeply, it might become difficult to remove when cleaning up.
Stringing hemp twine on the stakes (Sugar snap pea plant support)
String hemp twine on the stakes to support sugar snap peas. About 15cm (6 in.) spacing between twines. For now, we’ve set up hemp twines in 3 rows. We’ll add more rows above as the snap peas grow.
Cold protection for sugar snap peas (Winter prep for sugar snap peas)
Finally, cold protection for snap peas. (Overwinter for sugar snap peas.) Wrap non-woven fabric around the stakes. With this, snap pea plant care (thinning and staking snap peas, sugar snap pea plant support) is finished.
Related information on snap pea cultivation（Frequently Asked Questions for growing sugar snap pea）
What kind of fertilizer is good for snap peas?
Beans like snap peas can grow without fertilizer, so you don’t need to add any base fertilizer when preparing the soil. (If you add fertilizer to sugar snap peas, they may have trouble producing pods.) We don’t use fertilizer, but we may use compost if the soil doesn’t drain well (to improve the soil). Since we don’t use fertilizer, you only need to dig up the soil for preparation.
When is the best time to add extra fertilizer for snap peas? (Side dressing for sugar snap peas)
For snap peas, we don’t use fertilizer when preparing the soil, but adding extra fertilizer later is necessary. The best time to add extra fertilizer for snap peas is in early to mid-January, when it’s still quite cold. Adding fertilizer around this time helps it work in early spring, boosting the growth of the snap peas.
For extra fertilizer (side dressing), use chicken manure. Chicken manure has a good balance of nutrients needed for snap pea growth. The amount of extra fertilizer is about 10g (0.35 oz) of chicken manure per snap pea plant. If you use too much fertilizer, snap peas may have trouble producing pods. When adding fertilizer, be careful not to overdo it.
Following is the video for how-to. English subtitles are available.