Are you ready to grow some peas? These delightful members of the legume family are not only delicious but also an excellent choice for cool-season gardening.
Whether you’re a fan of their sweet crunch or want to enjoy a stir-fry bursting with flavor, peas are versatile, easy to grow, and perfect for home vegetable gardens.
In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about growing peas, including types, planting tips, care, companion plants, and harvesting. Let’s dig in!
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Types of Peas to Grow
Peas are part of the Legume family and are a cool season vegetable. You have three kinds of peas to choose from: snow peas, English peas, and sugar snap peas.
If you like stir fry, snow peas are the pea for you. They have a milder taste and flatter pod than the sugar snap pea.
English peas, also called garden peas or sweet peas, are shelled, and pods are removed before the peas are eaten.
Personally I love the crunch of a sugar snap pea, so these are a favorite in our garden. Sugar snap peas are the result of a cross between the other two peas. They are sweet and the pea as well as the pod can be eaten.
Phoenix Gardening: Grow Peas in Phoenix
- When and how to plant peas
- What grows well near peas and what doesn’t?
- How to care for peas
- Harvesting peas- When is the ideal time to pick peas?
How to Plant & Grow Peas in Phoenix
Peas are a cool season vegetable. We love these cool season vegetables and by cool we mean peas love to be planted once the temperatures reaches below 70 degrees. In Phoenix or gardening zone 9b this means we can usually start planting peas in mid-September through mid-February.
If starting by seeds plant seeds outdoors in September. Frost is most likely to occur between December through February, so you may want to start outdoor seeds in late January.
Planting depth for peas is 1 inch. Sprouts should appear in 7-14 days. Pea plants should be spaced 2-3 inches apart.
Snap peas are vining plants, provide support for them to climb.
Companion Plants for Peas
As part of the legume family peas grow well with green beans, lettuce, spinach, basil, and carrots.
Peas, however, do not like to be near onions or garlic.
How to Care For Peas
Light Requirements: Peas needs full sun or about 6 hours of sun a day.
Soil Requirements: Prefers sandy, well-drained soil, but peas can also grow well in amended clay or sandy soils as well. Peas like neutral and slightly alkaline pH. The soil pH range of 6.5-7.5 is ideal.
Water Requirements: Peas likes consistent moisture.
When to Harvest Peas in Phoenix
Peas takes 60-130 days from the day of planting until harvest day. Or seed to harvest in 10 weeks. In Phoenix this means if peas were planted in mid January harvest times for sugar snap peas would be in March. If seeds were sown in September harvest times would be November.
I have found peas do better when the seeds are directly sown rather than transplanted.
At maturity pea plants have a spread of 8 inches and a height maturity of 18 inches. Fruit is about 3 inches.
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Gardening Tips for Success
- Direct Sowing: Peas do best when their seeds are sown directly into the soil. Transplanting can disturb their delicate roots.
- Spacing and Growth: At maturity, pea plants will spread about 8 inches and grow to 18 inches tall, with pods around 3 inches long.
- Frost Protection: While peas can handle light frosts, consider covering them during particularly cold snaps to protect young seedlings.