June 26, 2017

This week I am going to push the theory that germinated seeds will grow in warmer soils than what they will germinate in. Specifically I am referring to snow peas. Last year during July I planted some sweet sets through some pea straw. I had let the last of the peas mature so that I could harvest pea seeds. I soon found my pea seed harvest was not very complete.

After planting the sweetsI I covered them with two layers of agribon 70 so the sets could be kept moist. It was surprising to see that several of the uncollected pea seeds were growing and looked quite healthy when I raised the fabric to check on the sweets progress.

Of course this set me to thinking. my thoughts was to germinate a beds worth of peas, plant them in July for September harvest. With any luck there would be a month or two of harvest, That is if I can get the peas to grow through July and August. This could be one of those experiments where energy input greatly exceeds the rewards. Some things you just have to try.

The reason for the July sowing is to allow the peas to mature well ahead of any early freeze. Peas sown at the end of August mature just as the late fall freezes happen. This does not hurt the pea plants but kills any flowers and thus no peas. 

This is why I delay my fall sowing until October for a mid to late winter maturing.

I have soaked the seeds, rinsed them with Actinovate ( an organic fungicide), then layered them between paper and  kept moist until they germinate.

Peas do not like to germinate in soils warmer than 85 degrees. With the recent heat I am afraid to see what the soil temps are. We are just going to run with this.

Once the seeds have sprouted, they will be planted and covered with 2 layers of 70. I'll step back keep them moist and cross my fingers. In reality the success probability is very low. But I think of those volunteers last July ( July was a very warm month). There have been added precautions with these peas. So stay tuned this could be interesting!!