I've been having some trouble with my peas. While most everything in the garden has been growing steadily, my pea vines just weren't getting very large. In addition to that, they have been getting more and more yellow. See the pic below:
Upon research, I discovered that yellowing leaves are the product of a Nitrogen deficiency resulting in the plant's lessened ability to create enough chlorophyll to sustain it. My compost still isn't ready, so I tried taking a few cups full of rabbit poop and spreading them evenly over the sol around the peas. I realized that it would take too long for that Nitrogen to become available to the plant, since roots need their N to be in a water-soluble form. I took another 2 cupfuls of rabbit poop and brewed a "compost tea," where one dumps the droppings into warm water and lets it sit for a day or so. I dumped a gallon of this tea over the pea bases, and I still got no good result. I was giving myself a couple days before each application or method, so that I could gauge if it was working or not. I wanted an organic solution, so I got a bag of blood meal. This is essentially dried animal blood pulverized into a powder. I applied as directed, but the peas were starting to die by that point. I researched some more, and found that blood meal is a great source of long-term nitrogen, but not the emergency remedy I was seeking.
That's when I just caved and bought some Miracle-Gro Plant and Veg Food. The water soluble crystals are about 27% N. I figured I'd give this a try, and depending on the result, I could do more study into what was happening and why. Well, the MG worked. It was too late for about half the pea plants, so I re-replanted those again (this is becoming a recurring theme for me), and the new plea plants came up quick and showed deep green leaves. The few pea plants that did survive also sprouted new leaves of the proper green shade.
That's when I just caved and bought some Miracle-Gro Plant and Veg Food. The water soluble crystals are about 27% N. I figured I'd give this a try, and depending on the result, I could do more study into what was happening and why. Well, the MG worked. It was too late for about half the pea plants, so I re-replanted those again (this is becoming a recurring theme for me), and the new plea plants came up quick and showed deep green leaves. The few pea plants that did survive also sprouted new leaves of the proper green shade.
Too much Nitrogen is said to make the pea vines large and bushy, but at the expense of the peas themselves. I'll need to monitor it, but my peas in this raised bed obviously needed more N than they were getting.
I also realize that I didn't really start feeding any of my plants until well into the higher temperatures of summer. Given that fact, I may have hurt their production by waiting so long as well. I don't really know what I expected to happen there. I have been faithfully watering my garden beds, but I guess I just thought that they would get all they needed from the soil, since it was a brand new mix and nothing had ever been grown in it before. I'm seeing the importance in both having a good soil AND feeding your plants. I know that snap peas are a colder weather plant, so I hope that I haven't missed the entire crop by these mistakes.
I also realize that I didn't really start feeding any of my plants until well into the higher temperatures of summer. Given that fact, I may have hurt their production by waiting so long as well. I don't really know what I expected to happen there. I have been faithfully watering my garden beds, but I guess I just thought that they would get all they needed from the soil, since it was a brand new mix and nothing had ever been grown in it before. I'm seeing the importance in both having a good soil AND feeding your plants. I know that snap peas are a colder weather plant, so I hope that I haven't missed the entire crop by these mistakes.