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Planting peas in spring in open ground allows you to get a juicy harvest in the middle of summer. When sowing a crop, it is important to follow the basic rules and pay attention to the composition of the soil.
When to plant peas outdoors
The culture is cold-resistant and germinates at temperatures slightly above zero. You can sow peas in open ground immediately after the snow melts. In the middle lane, landing is usually carried out in early April, in Siberia – in early May.
When choosing dates, it is important to take into account specific weather conditions. If severe frosts are still expected after the thaw, then it is better to wait with planting in open ground.
Is it possible to plant peas in autumn before winter
Theoretically, you can sow peas before winter, and not just in spring. In this case, it will undergo hardening in natural conditions, and with the onset of heat it will rise as soon as possible.
At the same time, only special winter varieties, designed for exposure to negative temperatures, are suitable for autumn planting in open ground. Most varieties are sown at the traditional time.
How to plant peas in open ground in spring
Planting peas in open ground is not particularly difficult. In the process, it is important to choose the right site for the crop and pre-treat the grains.
Seed preparation
For proper planting of peas, it is necessary to prepare the seeds. First of all, you need to select the highest quality material. To do this, the seeds should be poured into salted water – high-quality grains will sink to the bottom, and defective ones will remain floating on top.
It is also recommended to germinate the grain before planting in open ground. To do this, they are wrapped in a damp cloth and cleaned in a warm place for 3-6 days.
Where to plant peas
Most outdoor pea varieties prefer well-lit, fertile areas. The place can be humid, but close occurrence of groundwater should not be allowed. When planted in such a place, the roots will begin to rot.
You can successfully grow peas in the country in areas where pumpkin and nightshade crops used to be. Tomatoes and mustard are good neighbors, as well as cucumbers, turnips and carrots.
Soil preparation and beds
It is necessary to prepare a place for spring planting in the fall. The procedure looks like this:
- The earth in the selected area is dug up.
- Contribute to 1 m2 soil 25 g of potassium chloride, 35 g of superphosphate and 5 kg of compost.
- Add 100 g of wood ash with a strong acidification of the soil.
After that, the site needs to be dug up again and properly watered. With the onset of spring, the open ground in the prepared place is loosened and raised beds of the desired length are formed.
Pea planting scheme
Sowing peas in open ground in the spring is carried out immediately after the establishment of heat. The algorithm is the following:
- In prepared beds, wide furrows are made up to 8 cm deep.
- A little ash with compost is poured into the trenches, and then a layer of earth is brought in, leaving about 3 cm for the seeds themselves.
- Soaked and germinated pea grains are laid in furrows in open ground at a distance of 10 cm from each other and covered with soil.
- The earth is crushed and compacted, and then the beds are abundantly watered.
After planting, the site must be covered with plastic wrap for ten days. After the emergence of shoots, it is removed.
How to care for peas outdoors
Agrotechnics for growing peas in the open field is simple, but requires attention from the gardener. The culture must be regularly moistened. In addition, supports should be installed for the plant, pea stalks are lodging, without a fence nearby or a special trellis, they will simply sink to the ground.
Watering
The peculiarity of growing peas is that for good development in open ground after planting, it needs frequent and abundant watering. In hot and dry weather, the plant is moistened twice a week. During the flowering period, it is recommended to apply 10 liters of water per square meter of soil every three days.
Peas calmly perceive a short-term lack of moisture in open ground. But if the drought lasts too long, then the fruiting of the crop will noticeably decrease.
Additional fertilizing
Peas show maximum yield with timely fertilization. For the first time after planting, the plant in the open field is fed during the period of gaining green mass. The soil is shed with a solution of mullein or nettle infusion, 3 liters per 1 m2.
For the second time, fertilizers are applied after flowering – 10 g of nitroammophoska are diluted in 15 liters of water. With the onset of autumn, during the autumn digging of the beds, phosphorus-potassium minerals can be added to the soil.
Garter
Growing peas in open ground is most often necessary with the construction of supports. The culture has lodging stems. If you leave them to creep along the ground, the bush will not be able to receive enough light.
For garter culture, trellises, special or home-made nets, arcs for a greenhouse are used. You can plant peas in the immediate vicinity of the fence and fix its stems on pickets. The garter is carried out after the shoots reach 10-15 cm in length and can no longer maintain a vertical position.
Topping
Pea stalks, depending on the variety, when planted in open ground, can stretch up to 1-3 m in length. But to increase the yield, the shoots can be pinched at the tops after reaching 20-25 cm. In this case, the peas will give numerous side branches and eventually bring more pods.
Loosening
Planting and caring for peas in the open field require monitoring the condition of the soil. A week after the appearance of sprouts, it is recommended to spud the culture. During cultivation, after each watering, the ground near the pea roots is loosened shallowly.
At the same time, it is necessary to remove the weeds that inevitably appear on the beds with legumes after planting in the open field. Neighborhood with self-seeding grasses harms peas, because it does not receive enough moisture and nutrients.
Pest and disease control
Peas have moderate disease resistance and can be affected by some fungi. Most often, when landing in open ground, it is struck by:
- fusarium – first the lower leaves turn yellow, and the stem darkens, and then the whole plant dries out;
- rust – red-brown pustules appear on the leaves of the culture, which practically turn black by the end of summer, the growth of the bush stops, and the plates gradually crumble;
- ascochitosis – a fungal disease manifests itself in the appearance of dry dark spots with brown dots, peas begin to fade and shed their leaves;
- powdery mildew – you can recognize the fungus by a whitish-gray dry coating on the leaves and stems, over time the spots turn brown, and the bush stops developing and begins to dry out.
At the first signs of disease, pea plantings in the open field are treated with copper preparations, colloidal sulfur and Bordeaux liquid. Heavily affected bushes are completely removed from the beds – it is no longer possible to save them, it is necessary to protect healthy specimens from infection.
In addition to fungi, some pests pose a danger to peas when planted in open ground. Especially often the culture is struck by:
- bean moth – green, reddish or black caterpillars of the pest gnaw through pods and eat peas;
- pea codling moth – small brown caterpillars leave passages in pods and feed on developing beans, you can also recognize the pest by the black cobweb on the seeds of the crop;
- caryopsis – a black beetle with a cross-shaped pattern on the abdomen hibernates in plant debris, and with the onset of summer begins to feed on ripening peas;
- umbellate blotch – small golden bugs feed on pea leaves and can seriously deform the bushes, which will negatively affect fruiting.
Pest control in the open field is carried out with the help of drugs Zepellin, Accord, Sirocco. Phosphamide and chlorophos also have a good effect. Spraying is necessary 3-4 times per season. The last treatment is carried out no later than 20 days before harvest.
Growing seedlings of peas
Most often, pea cultivation is practiced in open ground. But if desired, the seeds can be used for seedlings, so that with the onset of heat, already formed seedlings can be transferred to the garden.
The algorithm for growing peas at home looks like this:
- According to the traditional scheme, the seeds of the culture are sorted out, calibrated, and then germinated on a damp cloth for 3-7 days in the refrigerator.
- A shallow box is filled with garden soil with the addition of humus, peat and sand, moisten the soil mixture and make holes 2 cm deep with a free space of about 3 cm between them.
- One pea is placed in each hole, placing it with a sprout down.
- Sprinkle the recesses with the remnants of the soil and cover the box with a film.
For two weeks, pea plantings are regularly ventilated and moistened from a sprayer. After the appearance of the first shoots, the shelter is removed and the seedlings are fed with a solution of superphosphate. When the sprouts acquire two real leaves, they can be dived in a common box or seated in separate containers.
Growing peas in a greenhouse
You can grow peas not only in open ground, but also in greenhouse conditions – the method is often used to get the earliest possible spring harvest. Also, a culture in a closed greenhouse can be sown at the end of summer, in which case fruiting will occur shortly before the cold weather.
The algorithm for planting peas in a greenhouse as a whole does not differ from the usual scheme:
- The soil in the greenhouse is dug up in advance and fertilized with phosphorus-potassium minerals.
- Small furrows are made in the soil with a distance of 25 cm between rows, you need to plant peas to a depth of only 3 cm.
- The soil is watered and waited until it settles, and then the seeds are planted in increments of at least 5 cm.
- Sprinkle planting material with earth and after the appearance of sprouts carry out the usual care of the crop.
Both soaked and dry pea seeds can be sown in the ground in a greenhouse. In the first case, the culture will germinate very quickly. In the second shoots will appear later, but the bushes will be stronger and more productive. If more than 25 cm remains between the rows of peas in the greenhouse, radishes or lettuce can be planted in between.
Conclusion
Planting peas in spring in open ground is carried out according to simple rules in April or May, depending on the region. The culture has good endurance, but requires frequent watering, installation of supports and regular loosening of the soil.