Is there anything better than walking through the garden, plucking a pea from the vine, and devouring it as a sweet and crunchy snack? Today I’m here to share my tips for  growing peas in Southern California. Peas are usually touted as being an “easy to grow” vegetable but, because of our unique climate, there are some things you should know before attempting to grow peas at home.

The first time I ever tried to grow peas at home, I followed the instructions on the seed packet that stated to “sow in early Spring.” And while my peas did grow, the yield was low, and the plants seemed stunted once the temperatures started to get hot. Essentially, the growing season was short and disappointing. That’s when I remembered that I was growing peas in Southern California. Here in zone 10 (b or a), the best time to start pea seeds is a little different. In actuality, edible peas grow best when planted in Fall in zone 10b. Once I started sowing my pea seeds in Fall, I was able to grow huge and prolific plants!

While Fall might be the ideal time to start growing peas in Southern California, you can still sow your peas throughout the entire cool season (or early Spring for those of you in colder garden zones). For more ideas of what you can grow in the cool season here in Southern California, check out my Fall & Winter Gardening Guide.

Types of Peas to Grow

If you ask Sam his favorite type of pea to grow, he would say ‘shelling peas’. He loves cracking open a plump pea pod, removing the bright green peas inside, and popping them right into his mouth. On the other hand, my personal favorite type of pea is the sugar snap pea. As the name implies, these crunchy peas are almost as sweet as sugar, and are meant to be consumed as a whole pod. To be honest, I enjoy sugar snap peas raw (right off the plant), on a vegetable platter to be dipped in ranch, and even roasted and stir fried. Personally, I think sugar snap peas are the most versatile type of pea you can grow!  Below, I cover the most common types of peas and how we enjoy them.

Most importantly, do not confuse the edible peas I’m discussing below with sweet pea flowers. Sweet pea flowers are purely ornamental and used for cut flowers/bouquets, but you do not want to eat them as they are toxic. You can read about sweet pea flowers and why I grow them in this post HERE. 

◊Snap Peas

Also known as ‘sugar snap peas’, snap peas are consumed as a whole pod.  Essentially, you don’t shell them, and consume the plump pod along with the round peas inside. For instance, you might have seen sugar snap peas on those vegetable trays you frequently see at the grocery store. The pods of sugar snap peas are slightly swelled, and they can be eaten whole, raw, lightly stir fried, and even roasted. Depending on the variety or age of the pea, you might need to remove the string off the pod before eating.

◊Snow Peas

As with snap peas, the entire pod of snow peas is edible. Snow pea pods are flat (unlike sugar snap or shelling peas) and frequently used in stir fries. In fact, one of my favorite Chinese dishes is stir fried snow peas with baby corn and chicken. Snow peas can be eaten raw as well, but sugar snap peas are more common for raw snacking.

◊Shelling Peas

As the name implies, shelling peas need to be removed from their pod or “shell.” They are bright green and delicious in soups, stews, and as a side dish topped with a pat of butter. Shelling peas are the peas you’ll find in bags in the freezer section of the grocery store—but they taste sweeter and more delicious when grown at home!

You might wonder ‘how many peas do I need to grow to feed my family?’ The great thing about growing peas is that they are simple to direct sow (more on that below), and therefore you can sow generously. Honestly, I’d err on the side of sowing more plants than you think you need. If you’re growing shelling peas, you’ll need A LOT of plants to create a sizeable meal of those small, round peas. Alternatively, if you’re growing sugar snap or snow peas, you can get away with fewer plants since the whole pod is consumed. For example, last year I grew 12 shelling pea plants for just two people, and I would have probably doubled that. On the other hand, I sowed a wall of sugar snap peas, about four feet long, and it produced plenty of pods for just the two of us this season. Obviously, your personal goals will matter—do you just want enough peas to snack on occasionally, or are you planning for meals?

Sowing Pea Seeds in Southern California

I highly encourage you to grow your peas from seed, as it’s better for the budget and very simple! So let’s talk about growing peas from seed here in Southern California. 

Now, some gardeners soak their pea seeds before sowing, but I do not. Soaking your pea seeds won’t harm them, but I’m always trying to keep things as simple as possible in the garden. I like to sow my pea seeds directly in the soil anywhere between end of September through October here in Southern California. The pea plants in my YouTube video were direct sown on September 27th. Direct sowing is ideal unless you are dealing with pests or space constraints at the moment.

If you can’t direct sow for some reason, you can start your pea seeds in pots for transplanting later.

Choose a full sun location that will allow you to prepare a trellis for your peas. Most peas are climbing and vining plants, so a trellis that can accomodate anywhere from a 6-10 foot vine might be necessary. I have a lot of inspiration in my Guide to Growing Vertically.

Being cool season plants, peas do like water (think of Spring rains) so don’t let them dry out completely. Water your seeds well after direct sowing in the garden. Additionally, peas like rich loamy soil like may crops,  so we follow our usual Steps For Amending A Garden Bed before planting our peas.

Want to grow a lush wall of peas?

If you want to grow edible peas as a lush wall, ignore the seed packet recommendations for spacing and plant your transplants approximately 4-6 inches apart. To directly sow peas seeds, sow them 1-2 inches apart and thin the vines as they grow larger to a final distance of 4-6 inches apart.

Remember, it takes a lot of pea plants to make a sizeable harvest, so plant more than you think you need—as many as 10-20 plants per person.

Companion Planting with Peas

As I have continued to garden, I’ve come across some great companion plantings  year after year. One of my favorite companion crops for growing with peas here in Southern California is CARROTS! Peas grow very well with carrots. In fact, you can see in the photo below, that I let the tall pea plants be a backdrop for a lush carpet of carrots in the foreground. PS: if you’d like to learn how I grow carrots, you can read all about it in my Carrot Growing Guide.

In contrast, I will never plant peas with garlic or onions ever again! While the logic behind companion planting isn’t always foolproof, my experiences have indeed shown that peas do not grow well when planted next to garlic or onions. The first year I tried this, my onions completely stopped growing and never grew thicker than a pencil! The second year, I planted garlic in front of my peas and the peas became stunted and never grew more than a couple feet tall. Needless to say, I’ll be avoiding that pairing from now on!

Pests & Growing Peas

As of now, the only problems I’ve ever had with pests and my peas are…birds! Can you blame them? In fact, pea shoots are often sold at farmer’s markets for salads and stir fries, which explains why birds might like them as a tasty snack too. To protect your seedlings, you might need to temporarily cover with netting or mesh until your seedlings are more mature. It’s important to note that it’s still possible for peas to survive after being clipped by birds. I’ve had the tops of my pea seedlings nibbled off by birds before, but then the peas grow back. It’s not always a lost cause!

Aside from pests, peas are very susceptible to powdery mildew. If you’re not familiar with this common garden fungal disease, you can read about my approach to powdery mildew in this post. Specifically for peas, I tend not to do anything because they usually only develop powdery mildew towards the end of the season when they are close to being removed anyway!

Specific Varieties to Grow

Over the years, I’ve really enjoyed growing ‘tall telephone’ and ‘green arrow’ shelling peas. By far, my favorite sugar snap pea has been from the Organic Sugar Snap Pea from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Yes, I have enjoyed the yellow and purple colored sugar snap peas (pictured), but I do find that they aren’t as delicious or prolific as the green ones I’ve grown. In regards to snow peas, I haven’t grown as many varieties because I grow less of this style of pea. Here in Southern California, I’ve had success with the ‘tai chung’ variety. In fact, that’s the variety of snow pea growing on one side of the cattle panel in my YouTube video. 

What else can I grow during the cool season?

If you are planning to grow peas right now in Southern California, chances are that there are lots of other cool season vegetables you can grow during this same time. Check out my Fall & Winter Gardening Guide for Southern California for a list to get you inspired!

Additionally, Fall is also the time to plant ranunculus, anemones, and narcissus in Southern California. Get my grow guide for these Spring flowers!

There are also some wonderful Cool Season Annual Herbs that should be in every Winter garden here in SoCal!