Peas, the most delicious product most loved by children and adults at the time of their milk maturity, can easily be grown on their own plot, without spending a lot of effort and time. Many inexperienced vegetable growers do not know how to plant peas and what subtleties in care you should know to get a tasty and high yield. People have been cultivating peas for a long time, it was and remains one of the most popular leguminous crops used for food and medicinal purposes. In cooking, peas are a component of the first, second courses and the basis of a delicious filling for pies; pea flour (with boils and boils) and pea broth (with urolithiasis) have healing properties.
Green peas: the secrets of growing
How to grow peas at home? There is nothing complicated in this agricultural operation: timely watering, periodic weeding, and, of course, the correct selection of seed material, of which sugar and peeling varieties are most optimal in terms of their taste and technical qualities, are important. Sugar peas are characterized by a pleasant taste, shelling - by hardness and unpretentiousness in cultivation.
Any agricultural process has its beginning; the same applies to the planting of peas: it is only important to determine the necessary material, which is peas. How to grow legumes is a secondary issue; they must first be planted. To do this, you will need seeds and a planting container, under which you can use a plastic container or a wooden box. The soil composition should consist of a third of loosening materials (sawdust, humus or straw). Planting soil can also be enriched with mineral fertilizers dissolved in water.
Peas: how to grow seeds
Before planting, pea seeds must be treated with preparations containing molybdenum and boron, and the Nitragin bacterial fertilizer, which leads to increased germination and more active shoot growth. Seeds are planted to a depth of 2-3 cm in loosened, moist soil in even rows, the distance between which is 2-3 cm; between peas an interval of 1-2 cm. After planting, the beans should be carefully watered, using a strainer for better spraying water.
After a month, when the results of your own work will be visible and green seedlings appear in the drawers, it is worth considering how to grow peas on the windowsill further or transplant young plants into open ground.
Tricks of growing peas on the windowsill
When growing legumes on a windowsill, you will need containers (wooden or plastic boxes) in which peas will grow. How to grow such a crop correctly? What conditions must be observed in order to get a rich tasty harvest that will please home and surprise guests all year round?
Sprouts are planted in grooves in even rows, the distance between which is 20 cm, between plants 10-15 cm. After this, the grooves must be carefully sprinkled with earth, a little tamped and watered from a watering can. Pea is a
photophilous plant, therefore, its location should be selected taking into account this factor - on the sunny side of the room.
When the sprouts reach a 20-centimeter height, it is required to hang a grid with large cells over them, along which green shoots will curl, which will provide convenience when harvesting. By the way, stalks curling along the grid must be directed in order to evenly distribute light for each of the shoots.
Planted Pea Care
When growing peas at home, the soil needs periodic weeding, providing maximum oxygen access to plant roots. In other words, loosening the earth is required after each irrigation, compacting the surface layer.
The quality of beans is affected by timely top dressing; Before the formation of the ovaries, the plants need to be fertilized with potassium-phosphorus mineral preparations. As a preventive measure, the soil should be fertilized with copper-containing microelements, the action of which is aimed at strengthening the leaves and stems of plants and the destruction of harmful bacteria.
The fruiting of peas lasts for 2 months; the collection of ripened pods should be done in the morning. One shoot can produce about half a kilogram of juicy peas. At the end of fruiting, the legumes are cut.
Peas: how to grow on greens
This culture is grown not only for the sake of beans; juicy greens can replace lettuce leaves, because it contains a sufficient amount of useful vitamins and biologically active substances. For example, in 100 grams of young peas there is a daily dose of vitamin C useful for the human body.
When growing green peas, it is preferable to opt for low-growing varieties that have more succulent leaves compared to grain. To obtain constantly fresh greens, peas need to be sown in several stages. The coarsened stems are cut, the leaves break off, the plant gives new sprouts.
How to grow peas in open ground
Pea cultivation in open ground is similar to home care, the difference is only on a territorial scale, many times greater than the “balcony” option. Seeds are planted in open ground in April-early May (when the earth is still quite wet), seedlings in late spring. Pea is an excellent precursor to all vegetable crops, since its roots contain nodule bacteria that enrich the soil with nitrogen.
The seeds are planted in the soil to a depth of 3-4 cm, otherwise the birds will gladly treat the grains. Watering plants should be regular; with a lack of moisture, ovaries and flowers may fall. Harvesting peas for grain is done once, when the crop ripens by 70%. If the culture is used fresh or intended for canning, it can be harvested repeatedly, every 2-3 days.
Before you grow peas in the country, its seeds are better to germinate, pre-soaked for 12-18 hours with a regular change of water every 3-4 hours. You can place the beans in a damp cloth for several days, which will ensure the quickest bite of the sprouts. For country or garden plots, you can use tall varieties, adapting supports for them.
There is a little-known cunning agricultural technique that tells how to grow peas, using its combination with other crops. Mutually beneficial joint planting, in which each of them creates optimal conditions for high-quality growth of the other and obtaining the highest possible yield, is increasingly used by many vegetable growers. So, peas, enriching the soil with nitrogen, go well with corn, carrots, not competing with them for nutrients from the soil due to different ripening times.