How to Grow Sugar Snap Peas

Sugar Snap Peas are a great vegetable to start with for the beginner gardener wishing to grow their own produce. It's not only a fast grower, but is also one of the easiest vegetables to look after while it's growing. But before you can get as far as growing, you will need to plan the area that will become the home of your new pea garden.

Where to grow

Sugar Snap Peas react well to long hours of sunlight, and while they can grow in the shade, it is recommended you place them in an area where they can get around six to eight hours of sunlight a day. Before you make any firm plans of where to place them, bear in mind that this vegetable is best grown in either spring or autumn to avoid too hot or too cold temperatures.

It's a steady climber

Your peas will need more than good soil and lots of sunlight, however, and as it is a climber it is a good idea to get yourself some wooden stakes to plant in the ground, giving the plant something to climb. Once the stakes are in the ground, loop some twine between them, creating multiple areas for the plants to fan out. However, make sure you do not use too much twine, as this could choke the plant.

Get planting

Now you're ready to plant the seeds, make sure you sow them around 3 inches apart and press them around half an inch into the soil to keep pests from eating them. The setting up of the garden is the hardest part of the growth and the only other thing – short of watering them – is to train them to cling to the twine and stakes. After the seedlings begin to grow vines, once a day gently curl the vines around the twine and stakes. Do this until they take a firm hold themselves; although the training time varies, this should usually take a few days and at most a week or two.