How far apart should I plant pea?

7 cm apart in the row, with rows 60 cm apart. In a square foot garden, that's 8 per square.

What grows well with pea?

Carrot, Radish, Turnip, Cucumber, Spinach. Keep it away from garlic, onion, shallot, leek.

Pea

Pisum sativum

In a typical UK garden, sow indoors early February to late March, sow outside early March to late June, plant out early March to mid-April, and harvest mid-May to mid-October.

When to sow, plant and harvest

Frost dates

Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.

Sow indoors: early February to late March
Sow outdoors: early March to late Junemid-October to late November
Plant out: early March to mid-April
Harvest: mid-May to mid-October

Spacing: 7 cm apart, rows 60 cm apart
Square foot: 8 per square (30 cm squares)
Sowing depth: 4 cm
Ready in: 60 to 100 days from sowing
Grows to: 1.2 m
Hardiness: Hardy to about -5 °C
Sun: Full sun
Crops for: About 4 weeks

Growing tip

Push in twiggy pea sticks or netting at sowing time so the tendrils have something to climb.

Neighbours

Grows well with

Keep apart from

Legumes are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works

Guides

When to plant

Sowing peas little and often, from March to June

Sow peas outdoors from early March to late June, a few rows at a time every three or four weeks so you have a steady supply. Hardy varieties can also go in from mid-October to late November for the first pods in late spring.

More legumes

Where these figures come from

Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For pea, we used:

Grow pea with VegLog

Add pea to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.