Planting guide

When to plant pea

Sweet cool-season pods that kids eat straight off the vine. In Melbourne it goes in Apr–Oct.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 9–13 wks
Spacing: 5 cm
Depth: 3 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means pea can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Geelong	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Townsville	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Mackay	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Mildura	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Wellington	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
London	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Toronto	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant pea

Sow seed 3 cm deep in cool soil.
Give climbing types a trellis or mesh.
Keep soil moist and mulch roots.
Pick often once pods fill.

Pea varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Greenfeast Classicheavy-cropper · disease-resistant · 9–11 wksHeavy-cropping shelling pea; a good all-rounder
Telephone Classicclimbing · heirloom · heavy-cropper · 10–12 wksTall old heirloom with big sweet pods; needs a trellis
Massey Gem Classicbush · dwarf · fast · 9–10 wksDwarf shelling pea; short plants
Sugar Snap Classicclimbing · sweet · kid-favourite · 9–11 wksEat the sweet crunchy pods whole
Oregon Giant Classicsweet · 9–11 wksSnow pea with large flat pods
Purple Podded Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 10–12 wksPurple pods with striking flowers; shelling type
Golden Podded Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 9–11 wksPale golden pods that are easy to spot
Mammoth Melting Classicclimbing · heavy-cropper · 9–11 wksTall snow pea with tender, sweet flat pods
Alderman (Telephone) Classic9–13 wks
Bon Classic9–13 wks
Bush - Sugar Ann Classicheirloom · bush · sweet · 9–13 wks
Cascadia Classicheirloom · 9–13 wks
Franks' Pea Classicheirloom · 9–13 wks
Green Devil (PBR) Classic9–13 wks
Novella Classic9 wks
Novella Leafless Classicheirloom · 9–13 wks
Onward Classicheirloom · 9–13 wks
Oregon Classic9–13 wks
Oregon Sugar Pod Classicheirloom · sweet · 9–13 wks
Princess Classicheirloom · 9–13 wks
Purple Flowered Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 9–13 wks
Purple Podded Dutch Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 9 wks
Sugar Bon Classicsweet · 9–13 wks
Sugarsnap Classic9–13 wks
Telephone/ Alderman Classicheirloom · 9–13 wks
Tom Thumb Classic9–13 wks
Willow Classic9–13 wks
Yakumo Classic9–13 wks
Yukamo Giant Classicheirloom · giant · 9–13 wks
Yukomo Giant Classicheirloom · giant · 9–13 wks

Where to buy seeds

Buy on Seeds of Plenty Buy on Happy Valley Seeds Buy on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Carrot, Radish, Mint

Pea by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Dwarf Green Bean · Climbing Bean · Edamame · Broad Bean · Peanut · Shelling bean

Not sure pea is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now