What does pea need for good growth and fruiting: advice for those who decided to grow peas in a garden bed
Quite a few summer residents and gardeners, in addition to potatoes, carrots, beets and other vegetable crops, grow peas on their plots.
A "tasty bed" of green peas when they ripen makes children happy, and adults are not averse to picking a pod or two to enjoy. But how to grow peas correctly and is it difficult? No, it's not difficult at all.
Anastasia Kovrizhnykh , an expert of the online publication "BelNovosti", an agronomist and landscape designer, told what to do in such a case.
It is enough to remember the basic rules of its cultivation.
And the first of them is - do not spare water for watering the bed where the peas are growing. This crop is moisture-loving, and the peas will grow juicy if the plant has enough moisture.
Until the plant begins to bloom, it should be watered once or twice a week, pouring at least a bucket of water onto each meter of the bed.
And when flowers appear on the peas, the frequency of watering can be increased and water can be added to the plants every two days, maintaining the same volumes of water.
Rule number two is regular and timely fertilizing. Green, growing peas can be fertilized with a solution of nettle or mullein before flowering. And when it has finished flowering, it is necessary to add fertilizing in the form of a solution of nitroammophoska or a solution of ammonia to the soil.
The third rule - if you are just looking for a suitable place to sow peas and want to know on what kind of soil it grows and bears fruit best, then the answer is simple: on cultivated and well-fertilized soil.
Black soil and loam with neutral acidity are perfect, but strongly acidic clay soils are not. Therefore, the place for peas should be dug up beforehand, deacidified and fertilized if necessary.
Rule number four - since peas' roots go deep into the soil in search of nutrients, they may lack oxygen, which will cause the plant itself to wither.
How to avoid this? Loosen the soil under each stem more often, and it is best to do this every time after watering. This is especially necessary on dense soils on hot days, so that a crust does not form on the bed.
The fifth rule is that the peas need to be supported or have a net hung on them so that they can climb and grow.
It is advisable to install supports when the pea stems reach a height of about 16 centimeters.
Pegs made from branches left over from pruning trees are very useful for tying up peas, and the net can also be stretched over them if they are long and strong enough.
Rule number six - do not forget about such a procedure as pinching. When the peas grow to 25 centimeters in height, in the morning its top should be pinched, that is, tear off a sufficient piece of it.
It is best to do this in the morning so that the "breakaway" point is not burned by the sun.
You can also pinch the side shoots of peas: this will allow new shoots and pods to form on them.
And the seventh rule - to get the maximum harvest, protect pea crops from birds.
Birds will not miss the opportunity to peck at the pods or pick out freshly planted seeds from the garden bed, and you can scare off uninvited guests by covering the peas with white spunbond. Spraying the peas with garlic or wormwood infusion will save you from insects.
Earlier we talked about why lettuce grows bitter .
