Climbing Pea First Early May is a very popular, versatile, and reliable pea variety. It is an extremely early type that can grow quite tall. These sweet, wrinkled peas are delicious and freeze very well. Peas, pods, and capuchins are easy to grow yourself and make a wonderful addition to any vegetable garden. This variety is relatively resistant to pests and diseases and requires very little fertilization. For all peas, sowing early from February till March produces the best results. Sowing later in May can lead to problems with powdery mildew, downy mildew, and insufficient pod development.
The peas can be lightly boiled, steamed, stir-fried, braised, or pureed, and are also excellent in salads, stews, or served as a side dish with carrots. They can also be frozen successfully. Provide these plants with strong support; they are also suitable for growing along tall trellises or mesh. Half-hardy annual. Height: 130 - 150 cm.
Soaking: 24 hours
Pregermination: yes
Indoor sowing: February - March
Outdoor sowing: March - April
Germination: 10 - 14 days
Germinationtemp.: 10 - 20°C
Sowing depth: 2 - 4 cm
Plant distance: 30 - 50 cm
Plant position: sunny and sheltered
Harvest period: June - July
Soak the seeds 24 hours before sowing in tepid water. The seeds soak up all the water and this helps with germination. It is also possible to pre-germinate the seeds. Place them in a bowl of warm water and let the water stand to halfway the height of the seeds. Refill often because the seeds take a lot of water in. The seeds grow thiny roots from about 1 cm long after 3 - 4 days. Sow these seeds indoors.
Sow indoors from February on. Sow in seperate pots 1 seed per pot. Cover the seeds with a thick layer of soil, because peas are dark germinators. Keep the seeds moist and keep the temperature as even as possible during the germination. Don't let the temperature drop during the night. Put the seedlings outdoors from March on. Protect the seedlings against slugs, snails and birds in the beginning. Ground the plants up as soon as they are 10 - 15 cm tall. Give high varieties a good and solid support with mesh or cains.
Sowing outdoors is possible from March. Sow the seeds 2 - 4 cm deep and cover them with sowing soil. Cover the seeds with fleece for example to protect them against birds and mice. Provide firm support from mesh and cains. Keep enough space between the rows. The space must be 60 cm for low varieties and 120 cm for high varieties. Ground the plants up as soon as they are 10 - 15 cm tall. Keep moist and weed free. Protect the young plants well against snails, slugs and birds. Apply alternating crops to prevent the development of diseases in the soil. Maintain a rotation of 4 years. This means that you don't grow peas or legumes on the grounds where the past 4 years have been peas or legumes. Pick the pods with peas regularly to promote the growth of pods.
