Need help with sugar snap peas

[260906]

Hello, everyone. I have researched the internet and this forum, but can't find an answer to my gardening problem. I've grown sugar snap peas for several years. Each year more and more pods stay flat and won't plump out. Some of the flat pods are slightly wavy instead of straight. One plant will produce both types of pods.

Does anyone know what might cause this? I dearly love to eat sweet, plump sugar snap peas! The flat ones aren't as sweet or juicy.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Have you changed varieties?

Have you had a complete professional soil sample done?

It could be a simple thing like pH or a missing nutrient like sulphur.

 

[lazy gardener]

IF you're getting both flat and plump pods on the SAME plant, you have a fertility issue. Are you noticing much activity from pollinator insects? Are you trying to grow the peas in warm weather? (that might affect fertility) If you're noticing that some of your plants are producing fat pods, and other plants are producing thin pods, I'm guessing that you have a mixture of seed which might include the flat podded peas which are used in Asian cooking.

 

[260906]

ChickenCanoe, I have not changed varieties or done a soil sample. I've been intending to do a soil sample, but sort of lost my enthusiasm for it after reading an article about how unreliable soil samples can be. Guess I need to take the time to do one, anyway.

lazy gardener, Yes, they appear on the same plant. In fact, this year there seems to be a few pods that have 2 or 3 plump peas and the rest of the pod stays flat. Crazy. My yard is covered with bees, but I have not noticed whether or not they get on the peas. As far as the weather, I live in an area (in zone 7) where the ideas of "winter" and "summer" are more of an ideal theory than a reality. We have had highs and lows one week of 60s/30s and the next week it will be high 80s/60s. I've replanted my melons twice this year due to crazy temperature and rain patterns.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

ChickenCanoe, I have not changed varieties or done a soil sample. I've been intending to do a soil sample, but sort of lost my enthusiasm for it after reading an article about how unreliable soil samples can be. Guess I need to take the time to do one, anyway.

lazy gardener, Yes, they appear on the same plant. In fact, this year there seems to be a few pods that have 2 or 3 plump peas and the rest of the pod stays flat. Crazy. My yard is covered with bees, but I have not noticed whether or not they get on the peas. As far as the weather, I live in an area (in zone 7) where the ideas of "winter" and "summer" are more of an ideal theory than a reality. We have had highs and lows one week of 60s/30s and the next week it will be high 80s/60s. I've replanted my melons twice this year due to crazy temperature and rain patterns.

That's why I said "a professional complete soil sample".
I had one done this spring on several garden beds. I sent 2 to the state and I hand carried one to the Missouri Botanical Garden and they send it to a lab in Illinois.
The state test only does pH, Potassium and Phosphorus.
I was very happy and impressed with the complete test. I received a listing of macro and micro nutrients with graphs on where they place on optimal soil nutrition. They also gave a breakdown of ways to amend the soil with exact application rates of both organic and chemical additives with product names.
None of them test for nitrogen since it leaches from the soil so rapidly and needs to be replenished each growing season.

ETA
As it turns out I was slightly high on phosphorus (probably because of chicken bedding based compost). The only thing that needed amendment was sulfur which was very low. Adding gypsum for sulfur and milorganite for nitrogen and the garden is producing extremely well.

 

[260906]

Thanks for the info.

 

[lazy gardener]

For what ever reason, you're not getting good pollination. It could be insect related, weather related, or nutrient related.