Chitting peas...

I've just put my peas to chit in the airing cupboard in a bag of damp compost - mainly to give them a bit of a head start, but also because I haven't done that before and I like trying new things... So, once they've sprouted, can i sow them direct outside or will they resebt to sudden drop in temperature? I could sow them in pots in my unheated conservatory instead.

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Permalink Reply by Debbie on March 3, 2012 at 22:01

I've never chitted peas. Just sown them straight into pots in the greenhouse or direct into the ground. I'll be interested to know how you get on.

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Permalink Reply by Bobby on March 3, 2012 at 22:07

I'll keep you posted! Apparently when they start to sprout they exude a chemical that makes them taste horrid to mice so if you plant them chitted the mice won't eat them. Not that I have a problem with mice, just an interesting fact!

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Permalink Reply by Fred Hogg on March 3, 2012 at 22:11

We do not have problems with mice, but we do have a rat infestation, do rats dislike the taste of chitted peas??

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Permalink Reply by Colin Robinson on March 3, 2012 at 22:17

Like Debbie I've never chitted peas either. I soak them in tepid water for an hour before planting and never seem to have a problem with germination. To deter the mice I cover the pots with fleece until the shoots come through.

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Permalink Reply by Bobby on March 6, 2012 at 11:44

Well, the seeds are sprouting nicely, so I've planted them into pots as we've had a hard frost last night. It's quite interesting to see just how good the peas look when they've rehydrated. I just assumed they stayed wrinkly when they were planted, but they are now lovely and plump and a mottled pinky sort of colour. They hadn't all sprouted, so I put the unsprouted ones back in the airing cupboard to see if anymore get going.

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Permalink Reply by John Martin on March 9, 2012 at 10:20

Bobby

like Colin I just soak them in tepid water for an hour or two before sowing in modules. (this is for my show peas) My kitchen peas are also soaked then planted insitute but I do warm the ground up with a cloch before hand. seams to work not badly.

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Permalink Reply by Bobby on March 21, 2012 at 20:22

Just in case anyone has been losing sleep over the prospects of my peas, I thought I'd update you -I had 100% germination from the ones that sprouted in the airing cupboard - there were only 2 which didn't sprout and obviously I didn't bother doing anything with them.