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Old 18-07-2010, 09:00 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
David in Normandy[_8_] David in Normandy[_8_] is offline
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Default Mangetout vs Sweet Peas (paranoid newbie beg grower)

On 18/07/2010 18:57, David Rance wrote:
On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 Mitulove wrote:

I'm growing some mangetout and miniature sweet peas on my patio and
whilst the stems are quite different and the leaves grow in a different
formation, the flowers look very similar. I've read that the pods of
the latter can be quite toxic. It's not that I don't trust the plant
labellers at Dobbies, but the mangetout was one tray put in with a bunch
of sweet peas and beans. Is there any way to tell with absolute
accuracy whether you've got an edible pea or one that will send you to
hospital?

I've got a couple photos of the mangetout I'm growing--if someone could
confirm that it's what I think it is, I'd be most grateful

http://tinyurl.com/37nhnts

http://tinyurl.com/35wvaju


That is mange-tout. The pods of sweet pea are much smaller.

David


I've noticed that amongst my mangetout peas there are one or two
"sports" that aren't the same variety as the rest. I don't grow sweet
peas so I don't know how to compare anyway. These odd "sports" tend to
have much smaller pods that fill with peas more quickly. I just assumed
they were accidental crosses that had sneaked in where they were grown
or a problem with packaging. I've eaten them without ill effect, so
guess they weren't sweet peas.

--
David in Normandy.
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