Everyone loves peas, maybe not children but yeah, peas are an amazing addition to increasing the flavor of any food.
Peas are loved by every seasoned gardener as they help other nearby plants to grow well by increasing the nitrogen levels of the soil.
Peas are helpful by their nitrogen fixation qualities. However, many gardeners still shy away from growing them as they take a long time to mature.
All varieties of peas are beneficial to the garden, be it snow peas, sugar snap peas, or garden peas.
Peas are climbing plants, and due to their size, they are very effectively used in gardens to utilize spacing and border areas.
They are good spring season crops and are highly nutritious. If planted alongside good companions, they increase the health and growth of each other.
In this article, we will have a look at companion plants of peas, their growing requirements, and many more.
Why Do Peas Need Companion Plants?
Peas are excellent companion plants to almost every other plant. But why peas need companion plants is a common question.
If you grow a flowering plant near peas, it will help attract beneficial insects to the garden. They will feed on insects and other pests, making safe surrounding, preventing you from using pesticides, or manually preventing them from insects.
Peas are tall plants and can provide shade to other plants while acting as border covers or wall covers. Peas of different varieties need moist soil, and planting companion plants accordingly will help them survive scorching heat.
7 Best Peas Companion Plants
There are certain plants which increases both the growth and productivity of peas plants while benefiting themselves from peas if planted nearby and are called as good companion plants.
Let us know about some of these good companion plants of peas.
1. Turnips
Peas and turnips go hand in hand and benefit each other for healthy and disease-free growth.
They both like pleasant winter weather conditions and form a natural bond. Turnips require nitrogen for healthy growth, or else they grow pale and yellow if an ample supply of nitrogen is not provided.
This is where peas jump in and provide nitrogen through nitrogen fixation and help turnips thrive.
In return, turnips help peas by repelling insects and pests from the garden, protecting them like a good friend.
2. Lettuce
Lettuce is one such plant known as another good neighbor of peas plants and shares the exact growing requirements making them good companion plants.
They both are cold-conditioned crops and require pleasant winter weather.
Same as turnips, lettuce requires a good amount of nitrogen to get greener salad-ready leaves.
Lettuce being cold weathered veggie, requires shade in the scorching heat. Peas provide them the shade they need, and Letuuce, in return, as they grow low, provides moist soil, which is required by peas in order to grow healthy.
3. Cucumbers
Peas and cucumbers thrive well from each other’s assistance. They are among the plants’ best companions as they share the same growing requirements.
Cucumbers keep the soil loose, which helps peas plants grow as they can take in good water and ventilation required for thriving. Lettuce helps deter harmful fungi preventing infection in peas.
In return, cucumbers use the nitrogen provided by peas through nitrogen fixation, helping them retain their greenery and grow healthy.
4. Carrots
Carrots are extremely nutritious and a must-have crop in your garden. It is also an excellent companion plant for peas.
Carrots get nitrogen through the nitrogen fixation process of peas which carrots use to enhance their growth, and in return, carrot makes the soil loose, which is helpful for peas as they can now take up required air and water more efficiently and thrive.
Both plants grow easily when planted near late summer, and they also have almost the same growing requirements, plant them as neighbors and see your garden bloom.
5. Corn
Corn is enjoyed by everyone, and it is one crop that blends with many recipes very easily; gladly, it is also a good friend of peas.
Corn requires an ample amount of nitrogen for healthy growth; peas provide that extra amount of nitrogen into the soil, which corn plants use to make their crop tastier and healthier.
Peas in a fair exchange get to rest in the shade provided by corn plants as corn plants can grow tall, and when the hot weather conditions arrive, corn plants hide them in partial shade, preventing wilt and exhaustion of peas plants.
Corn is also a very good addition next to peas crops as they provide a trellis for peas to climb up easily.
6. Beans
Peas and beans are just like brothers, sharing the same growing requirements and never competing with each other, making just the best companion plants.
Beans and peas can use the same trellis to grow up, and their nitrogen-sharing capabilities enhance the yield of both crops.
7. Radishes
A low-maintenance plant that is extremely nutritious and healthy, a crop harvested by almost every seasoned gardener.
Radishes and peas are both cold-weather crop and, when planted together, benefits everyone around.
Radishes, like every other crop, strive to get more and more nitrogen which is easily provided by peas, while radishes loosen the soil for the betterment of peas.
Peas use the loosened soil to enhance their taste and texture as they can take a good amount of water and air, which is soaked up by the roots.
2 Worst Companion Plants For Peas
We had a look at some of the good companion plants of peas; now it’s time to learn what plants we should not plant near peas, which can hamper the growth of both the respective plants.
Lets us have a look.
1. Tomatoes
Making a top appearance on this list, tomatoes and peas are plants that should not be planted near each other.
The main reason is they are different weathered crops; peas like pleasant winter conditions to grow well, and tomatoes ask for a summer temperature to grow.
Planting them together can put a brake on the plant’s growth as one will be dissatisfied with the weather conditions, that’s for sure.
2. Garlic
To prevent your pea veggies from stunting, avoid them from planting near this allium family member.
They can obstruct the growth of peas as garlic plants are known to have a high amount of ajoene properties which is harmful to the effective growth of peas.
What Are Peas’ Growing Requirements?
When growing peas, it is essential to consider the plants’ needs and necessities to ensure they grow healthy and bloom in their growing season.
Let us learn the basic growing conditions of peas plants.
1. Light Requirements
Peas require direct sunlight for at least six hours a day; peas are easy going plants and they perform good in partial shade as well. Too much shade can hamper the growth.
2. Soil Requirements
Peas are not a choosy plant and can be grown in any given soil with a good drainage system.
The ideal soil for peas would be good loamy soil, having a sufficient amount of nutrients.
3. Water Requirements
Peas require water every week, and watering is one of the most essential requirements of peas, as they will die if the soil gets completely dry.
Prevent soil from getting drier but do not overcompensate by watering too much, making the soil soggy logged.
4. Temperature Requirements
Peas are winter-seasoned crops and need sun but not very hard and scorching. They can also tolerate a bit of cold and won’t do well if the temperature gets too hot. Humidity is not an issue for peas until they have moist soil to fight it.
Grass Diseases And Pests
Pea weevils and aphids are the most common pests that can harm a pea plant from top to bottom, and safety measures are required to eliminate them.
Washing the insects out of the plant’s leaves or roots by spraying insecticidal solution, soap, or even water will help you eliminate them.
Several companion plants can also deter pests from peas, which will even help the garden.
Peas are prone to fungal infections where the leaf gets yellow to brownish and then fall. No major fungicides are an effective cure to this disease.
Crop rotation just may be the solution and avoiding sowing these plants in infested fields can be a preventive measure for fungal infections.
Conclusion
Many gardeners worry about finding good companion plants to enhance their garden’s productivity. This article helps by sharing all the required information about peas, like what are the excellent companion plants of peas, what you should not plant with peas, and what are growing requirements.
Upon reading this article, you will find the diseases and pests affecting peas’ growth and take preventive measures.
I hope this article will benefit you and your planting family.