Planting Sugar Snap Peas Guide What You Need To Know

Sugar Snap Peas Seed to Harvest

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Growing your sugar snap peas can be fun while providing our family with a nutritious snack.

Sugar snap (Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon) peas are a cool season, frost-hardy vegetable.

We can grow them outdoors in our gardens or plant them in pots. We want to provide a large enough container for good root growth when using pots.

If the soil quality in your backyard is not good enough for our crop, look at using raised beds as an easy way to provide high-quality soil for our peas to grow in.

We can use a trellis to help our sugar peas climb or provide a companion plant-like corn it can climb along. Peas love to climb, so using something for them to climb along is essential for maximal plant growth.

If you select a type of bush pea, you will not need to use anything for it to climb. If you are unsure if the kind you have is a vine or bush, it is best to provide a trellis for them just in case.

Being a member of the legume family will also help us naturally add extra nitrogen into our garden's soil.

Sugar Snap Peas Soil Type

We want to plant the seeds in free-draining soil, and growing in an overly compacted soil type will increase the chances of the plant developing root rot.

We want to have our soil in a pH range between 6.0-7.5 to make sure we get proper growth.

Adding mulch helps protect the soil from getting too hot in the summer and reduces moisture buildup around our plant's roots. This will help to make sure the plants thrive over their growing cycle.

Sugar Snap Peas Growing Temperature

Best Time to Plant Sugar Snap Peas

We must wait until our soil temperatures reach a temperature of 45 F. (7 C.) or higher. If the temperature goes below this range, the peas will get damaged and could die off.

The best time for planting our sugar peas is early spring or fall since the plants do not do well when the temperature goes above 80°F (27°C).

High heat and intense sun can cause burning of our plants, and they do not tend to do very well.

Growing Sugar Snap Peas in Summer

We can still grow the peas through the summer, but we need to have them in a spot that gets its sunlight early in the morning and is shaded in the afternoon to prevent plant burn.

Sugar Snap Peas Sun Requirments

Peas do best when receiving around 6 to 8 hours of sunlight daily. They do fine in partial shade, so they work well with taller companion plants like corn that can climb along.

If they receive under 6 hours, your harvest and amount of pods produced will be lower.

Planting Sugar Snap Peas

We must wait until the chance of frost has passed before we plant our peas. The soil should be dry enough with minimal clumping, which will happen for most of us in early spring.

You will want to remove weeds in your garden plot, but snap peas do not require much work to grow.

They require minimal soil prep, and all we need to do is take a garden rake to break up the top of our soil and loosen it up.

We will sow our seeds 1 to 1 1/2 inches (2.5 to 3.8 cm.) deep into the ground and about 1 inch apart from one another. We also will place them around 18 to 24 inches (46-60 cm.) between pairs of plants or rows.

Sugar Snap Peas Germination Time

On average, we expect our seedlings to emerge in 7 to 14 days under warm soil conditions.

Warmer soil conditions will allow them to germinate faster and in cool temperatures longer. So in the fall or early spring, our seedlings can take up to 28 days to emerge.

Harvesting Sugar Snap Peas

When is it Sugar Snap Peas Harvest Time

To get the full flavor from our sugar peas, we need to ensure not to pluck them too early or too late.

We want to wait until the pod begins to swell and plumpen. On average, it will take 6 to 8 weeks from sprouting for our peas to be ready for getting harvested.

You need to start paying attention when you notice the plant going into flowering. The pods will begin to swell in 1 to 2 weeks from this point.

You need to snap off the tough ends and remove any strings when plucked. Now, you can eat the entire pod or just the peas inside.

We can store the peas in our fridge up to 2 weeks after plucking them, but they always taste best fresh.

If you are not planning on eating them within the first week, it is best to wrap them up and put them in the freezer.

Sugar Snap Pea's Height

The average height that most sugar snap peas varieties will reach is 4 to 6 feet tall, but some types will reach up to 8 feet high.

Sugar Snap Peas Companion Plants

These peas will grow well with many different plant types. There are also a couple of types of plants you want to keep away from your sugar snap peas.

What Grows Well With Sugar Snap Peas

Companion Plants

Aromatic Herbs

Cilantro
Mint
Lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis)
Lavender ( Lavandula spp.)
Chamomile ( Matricaria chamomilla)
Rosemary ( Salvia rosmarinus )
Basil ( Ocimum basilicum )
Pineapple sage ( Salvia elegans)
Bay laurel ( Laurus nobilis)

Leafy Greens

Lettuce
Spinach
Kale
Cabbage
Water Cress
Micro Greens
Radishes
Cucumbers
Carrots
Beans

Brassica family

Cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Broccoli
Cabbage
Bok Choy
Turnips

Plants to Keep Away From Your Peas

Some of these plants will feed on similar nutrients, others will attract pests, and some will emit harmful elements to the soil for our peas.

Garlic
Onions
Shallots
Leeks
Chives
Gladioli
Scallion

Summary

Sugar snap peas are fun to grow and help us increase the quality of our soil by adding nitrogen naturally.

After we harvest the pods, we can till the rest of the plant back into the soil, adding more organic material, further improving the ground's tilth.

If you let the pods develop for too long, they will get pretty hard and not be great to eat. You can save them up and add them to the ground when you till the entire plant as green manure since the pods have the highest nitrogen value at that point.