Posted by madlantern | Posted in Garden, Photography, Plants, Vegetables | Posted on 27-04-2010
Tags: peas, Plants, slugs, spring
Peas, Bleeding Hearts and Iris
This year we had a very early warm streak, so despite my better judgment, I planted my peas during the last week of February. And, lo, it did freeze not more than a week later. Luckily the sprouts hadn’t emerged from the ground yet.
Generally, after about a week and a half I have two-inch tall pea plants, and this year, at the same duration of time since planting… I still had nothing. Uh oh. I was a little worried that I’d really jumped the gun and that they wouldn’t emerge at all, but after about two and a half weeks, they finally began popping up!
The next challenge was the fact that they’re situated on the west side of a fence and on the east side of the house. This means that they get a very narrow window of direct sunlight (right now, about 10:00 am – 1:00 pm) and so are kind of slower growing than I’m used to. I figure that this will be a good thing later on in the summer as they’ll be more protected from the hottest parts of the afternoon. I guess I’ll see how that theory works out. 
On Sunday, I finally put in the nails and twine. This was pretty easy, since the fence was right there and the walkway has a wooden border. For the two back rows, I recycled some old bamboo skewers and tied twine to them and the upper nails and the front strings. This particular twine is pretty frail, but I think it will do.
Right now my quest is to find some relatively animal-and-kid-safe deterrent for the slugs that like to hide in the shade of the iris at the south end of the bed. I’ve heard that beer in half-orange peels can be a good trap. Anyone tried that or have other good techniques that work?
I’ve tried copper strips but not beer. However, my all time fav is Slugo. It’s kid/critter/earth friendly albeit a bit spendy. After years of slug frustration, I’ve resigned myself to the expense but I’m always open to a better way. Let me know if you find something that works. BTW, you can get Slugo at Down to Earth if you are interested.
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Thanks, Thea! I’ve heard about copper, too, but haven’t ever tried it. I’m going to stop by Home Depot today and I’ll price both the copper and the Slugo and see which is more expensive. There has to be SOME way to ward off those hungry little slimes.