Pisum sativum (Fabaceae or legume family)
Production, Sugar Snap, Snow and Shelling
Soil preparation
- Incorporate compost and plant peas in raised beds.
- Apply compost and other amendments based on the results of a soil test.
- Spread lime as needed to increase both the pH and Ca levels. Dolomite lime will also increase Mg levels. Spread gypsum when calcium levels are low but pH is correct.
- Total nutrient uptake is 170 lbs. of N, 22 lbs. of P and 80 lbs. of K.
- Peas follow well after a light winter cover crop of oats, or when no cover crop was planted the previous winter.
- As peas are among the first crops to plant, there’s no opportunity to flush out the first germinating weeds in the bed. Alternatively, prepare the bed the previous season in early October and cover it with a silage tarp.
Common recommended fertilizer rates1
| Nitrogen | Phosphorus | Potassium | pH |
| 50 | 0-120 | 0-160 | 6.2-6.5 |
| 1Rates are for New York and are from Cornell University’s Nutrient Guidelines for Commercial Vegetable Production (2019). Check the Cornell website for updated guidelines, or consult with local experts for recommended rates outside New York. | |||
Varieties
- Peas are grouped by how they’re used and picked (shelling peas, snow peas and sugar snap peas) and how they’re cultivated. All of the shelling, snow and sugar snap types are available in both determinate and indeterminate types. PLS 595 is an excellent semi-indeterminate shelling pea. Indeterminate sugar snap continues to be the standard for high-quality sugar snap peas.
- Washington State, Oregon, Wisconsin, Minnesota and New York variety trial
- New York variety trial
- Shell pea varieties and their resistance to specific diseases and physiological disorders
Direct seeding information
| Seeder | Rows | Seeds per foot | Seed plate no. | Depth (inches) | Sprocket setting | Notes |
| Planet Jr. | 2-3 | 25 | 36 | ½–1 Depth 4 or deeper. Only use regular shoe | Mix with inoculants. It’s important to bury seeds completely. Plant 2 rows 4 inches apart on the middle of the bed for indeterminate types, or 3 rows 18 inches apart for determinate types. | |
| Earthway | 2-3 | 10 | Peas disc | ½–1 | Skips easily | |
| Jang | 2-3 | 6 | B or C12 | ½–1 | Front 14/rear 9 | The Jang seeder doesn’t perform well at planting peas. |
| MaterMacc | 2-3 | 12 | 144 H 4.5 | ½–1 | 17-19 | 12 seeds per foot when 2 rows are planted 30 or 36 inches apart. |
Transplanting and planting information
- Inoculate peas with Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae for proper N fixation.
- You can also transplant peas using a paper-pot planter, which allows you to get good germination and an early start. Some considerations:
- Planting peas with a paper-pot planter allows for some season extension. You get excellent germination in the greenhouse when the ground is too cold to germinate in a high tunnel.
- As a slightly higher density is ideal for trellised peas, it’s important to avoid gaps by using high-germinating seed. Plant when the pea plants have developed their first true leaves. Planting later leads to transplant shock.
- Don’t bury the plants, but make sure the pots themselves are covered to avoid drying out. Irrigate the first week until roots are established.
- For extra-early peas, transplant in a high tunnel. Use the pot spacing of 2 inches (CP303), which is the smallest-available pot spacing.
- For indeterminate varieties, seed or plant 2 rows of peas by traveling twice over the same bed with a 1-row planter or paper-pot planter. Walk carefully so each row is 4 inches apart from the other.
- For indeterminate peas, plant peas 2–3 rows to a bed at either 30, 36 or 18 inches apart, depending on wheel track spacing.
Cultivation procedures
- Basket weeders and spring hoes are useless if the crop is planted at 2 rows, 4 inches apart in the center of the bed. To keep the crop clean, use your cultivation toolbar and mount side knives for a 1-row set up, and cultivate as close as possible to the germinated peas. Do this when weeds are in the white thread stage.
- When planting determinate types, use a basket weeder or wheel hoe when weeds are in the white thread stage, without burying the young crop. Weed control is more effective when you eliminate weeds before they emerge.
- If a second pass is possible, use sweeps or side knives only. Precision cultivation tools can damage peas.
Deer, insect and disease protection
- You can prevent cutworms by spraying the soil with the beneficial nematode Steinernema carpocapsae. Once the pest is in the crop, control the population by spraying the crop with Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki, or spread a baited product containing spinosyn, like Seduce, around the plants.
- To prevent deer damage, build a temporary fence using 4-foot fiberglass posts and attach 1 clearly visible wire like IntelliTape at about knee height. Build a second fence inside the first fence, but attach 2 wires or twine whereby the top line is about 7-feet tall. Deer don’t have very good depth perception and won’t try to jump this fence without checking out the first fence, so electrifying the second fence often isn’t needed. Bait the outside deer fence with peanut butter and electrify it. Make sure you build the fences, bait and electrify on the same day. The surprise effect is what matters most with this particular deer control.
- To avoid plant pathogens, choose resistant or tolerant varieties.
Other cultural practices
- Irrigate frequently for optimum yield and plant health. Frequency depends on soil type, evaporation, precipitation and the particular needs of the crop.
- Trellis peas the same way you would trellis tomatoes. (See the Tomatoes section for a description.)
Double cropping and/or cover cropping
- After the last harvest, remove the trellis and posts. You can follow early peas with a transplanted short-season vegetable crop like spinach or lettuce. Mow plants as low as possible with a flail mower. Incorporate crop residue.
- If you aren’t planting another crop after peas, incorporate any harvest remains to avoid insect or pathogen buildup, and plant a cover crop, such as oats and peas during September, or rye and vetch at later dates.
Additional resources
Harvest, Sugar Snap, Snow Peas
| Yield | An average of 0.12 pints of sugar snap peas per row foot for bush types An average of 0.75 pints of sugar snap peas row foot for trellised peas Snow peas often yield approximately 30% less than sugar snaps. |
| Standards | Harvesting1 For bush peas, 15 lbs. per person, per hour For trellised peas, 20 lbs. per person, per hour |
| Tools and supplies needed | ⅝-bushel buckets or food safe 5-gallon buckets |
| 1Harvest rates don't include the time required to transport crops from the field to a wash and pack shed or storage facility. | |
Ready-to-harvest and quality indicators
- For sugar snaps, the pods are plump and peas inside the pod have filled out. Snow peas are best before they become much larger than 3 ½ inches.
- Sugar snap peas are 2 ½–3 inches long, and snow peas are 3–3 ½ inches long and don’t contain any large seeds.
- Don’t harvest diseased, damaged, over-mature or immature pods.
Harvest procedures
- Wash hands before harvesting peas.
- If peas are trellised, only harvest the mature peas into the bucket. If the plants aren’t trellised and most of the peas are mature, pull out the whole plant and pull off the peas. If using buckets with holes, double them to prevent peas from falling out of the holes, or use food-safe, 5-gallon buckets. Alternatively, use a harvest bucket that is carried around your shoulders.
- You can harvest standing up or kneeling down. Some people sit on a bucket while picking or cleaning the vines. This might not be as efficient, but pea harvest can become strenuous after a few hours.
Washing procedures
- Wash hands and rinse boots before entering the wash-and-pack shed, and cover up field clothes with a bib. If a long-sleeve shirt contains soil, remove this as well.
- Peas don’t need to be washed, but if needed, rinse them quickly with cold water to remove field heat. If harvested on a hot day, you can soak peas in a cold water tub to remove the field heat. Add a sanitizer like hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid to the water. Use the guide How to Wash Produce Using a Peracetic Acid Solution to establish how much sanitizer solution to add to water.
Additional resources
Packing and storage summary for peas
| Packing in the field | Every ⅝-bushel bucket weighs about 20 lbs. when filled with peas. |
| Packing for delivery | 10 lb. cartons. See the International Federation for Produce Standards for the correct PLU code. Add the prefix 9 for organic crops |
| Storage | At 32°–34° and 85–95% humidity. Cover in closed containers or bags if stored for a few days. Peas are moderately sensitive to ethylene exposure. The typical shelf life is 7–10 days. |
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.