Can I grow that inside? - Peas Edition

This post is updated as we grow these peas inside.

Last update: April 9th 2019

Can I grow peas in a container and inside?

This series is a blog series dedicated to showing the process of how to grow edibles - the garden variety - inside your home. If you are interested in growing out of season, or if you don’t have any outdoor space, you can see what it would actually be like starting from seed to harvest with us. With each series post we have ONE post per edible type of item. We will be updating each post, so check back for new photos, tips/tricks and more.

Growing Peas inside - I’ve only ever seen it mentioned ONCE on the interwebs. The Empress of Dirt - another great garden blogger mentions HERE that she plants peas indoors in the winter. But I wasn’t really sure since there wasn’t a ton of information or detailed showcase of her peas. But I was intrigued. Peas and me haven’t really found our pace yet - a few attempts at bush-peas outside has resulted in beautiful tendrils and never actually blossoms or peas. So, when I saw these little tom thumb peas from Baker Creek I was immediately struck to purchase some. I mean you can’t argue with a few dollars for some serious fun. I love the tendrils that peas give off, and find it a great decorative style, so I figured even if they don’t bloom they will look beautiful.

Tom Thumb Peas from Baker Creek

These are “garden peas” and to us Americans this means peas you don’t eat the shell, just the peas inside. These guys look adorable in their little planter on the site. There are many varieties of small container peas, but I loved that these only get to 8-9inches in height.

Fast Facts about the TOM THUMB SHELLING PEA from baker creek seeds

Planting: 1-2 per inch square
Days to Harvest: 50-55
Size/Description: shelling pea (meaning you don’t eat the pod) - but CAN with this kind.
Hybrid/Yes or No?: no, heirloom
Sun: partial - good for bright sun, but not hot sun - southern exposure

Expectations:

I highly expected these to never bloom/pod-up. Height of these are supposed to be less than a foot, in full - so planted a few, but recently read that we should 2-3x plant peas compared to the labels, so I figured heck it’s for decoration, you want them to be full.

Current Status of the Project:

( harvested batch one - waiting on batch two)

Feb 7- Day 0 -Planted in 8 inch ceramic pot - this one doesn’t have drainage, which I figured if I kept a very careful eye, and had some rocks on the bottom I might be able to get away with it for peas.

March 7, 2019- Day 30 -They are about four inches in height. And totally gorgeous. When they are small it feels like the right amount of seedlings, but I do think they could be increased.

March 15, 2019- Day 36 - Blooms! Each of these gorgeous 6 (two were stunted in growth and never took off) seedlings now have 1-2 blooms on top. Love the way the tendrils come over the top of the planter. They are loving the bathroom.

March 26, 2019- Day 47 -They are getting bigger! We are about five to ten days from the prescribed first harvest date, and I think that’s about right. One thing I will do next time is 2-3x what I already planted, and add in a lot more soil - so they are closer to the top. I found that they dried out a bit where they were shaded from the lip of the container.

April 5th - Day 57 I decided these guys are ready to go and I was ready for a mid-day snack. So I harvested these puny things. Honestly, I think that they could have grown bigger, but with the change in the sun being stronger and sunny, I left them in the direct sun too much for these guys, and I think they legitimately burnt the plants, stressed them out and they stopped growing.

April 7th - Day 59 After staring at the plants without their growing peas, I decided half of them had to go. So half of the full grown pea shoots were pulled out. One pea per shoot was all they were going to give me unfortunately. Now we drew the blinds so they get southern exposure but not harsh-direct light. The new seedlings are up and we will see how the succession sowing will do? Maybe more than one pea per shoot?

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