On Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:54:49 -0400, George wrote:

We grow a considerable variety of vegetables from seed: beans, beets,
turnips, radishes, kale, sometimes corn, etc. We get good germination
rates on pretty much everything, except peas. (Snow & Sugar Snap, if it
matters.) For those, we get maybe one in ten, at best. The few that do
germinate seem to grow OK. Not that we have a lot to compare them to.

We're in central NY, zone 5-ish. We start planting (peas) around
mid-April, depending on the weather, and give up around the beginning of
June.

I kind of suspect the problem is soil temperature. But (a) you're
supposed to plant peas early (?), and (b) everything else explodes in
early June, so it seems like we've covered both ends of the temperature
range.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,
G

Try starting them indoors. My technique is the following,

1) Soak the seeds in a glass of water for a day.

2) Place a wet paper towel on a plate and then put the seeds on the
towel. Cover the plate with a second plate.

3) Add water to the plate once a day to keep the towel wet.

I get germination in about two days using this technique. I usually let
the seeds sit on the plate for another day or two until most of the seeds
look like they've sprouted. I then transplant into starter pots or
directly into the ground. This technique works especially well for peas
and beans. My peas are doing very well this year, I'm in Massachusetts.

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