Mangetout

lisa26_2

Do mangetout plants need something to grow up? I have tonnes of plants, how closely together can they be planted?

Thanks,
Lisa

Zeusiblue

I'm a newbie gardener too. last yer i started my mangetout off in toilet rolls indoors. i waited till they were at least 8 inches tall b4 planting out. i planted them into the soil still in there t.roll holder. this helps to protect there roots and gainst slugs n snails. i find if you plnt them out too early ,whilst still tender, they are munched up overnight by slugs. once planted out i surround the base with cracked eggshell and slug pellets to give them a fighting chance. i placed a bamboo stick at least 5-6 foot tall by ech mtout and formed a wigwam with the 6 canes, supported at the top. you can secure the plants to the canes as they grow taller. then i placed garden netting over the top to protect further from birds. had a good crop last yer and they tasted much better than those u buy in the supermarket.have this years growing indoors at the mo and theyre about 2 inches tall.

Lotus-eater

Depends which mangetout you are growing.

lisa26_2

I don't know what variety they are. I got them from The Range and they just said Mangetout. They're about 8" tall now and have been outside in their little pots for a couple of weeks now. I think I'll give them a wigwam anyway, it won't do any harm!!!

foxgloves

Hi,
We grow Sugar Lord, which can be eaten as mangetout or sugar snaps. We grow ours up pea & bean netting as they like something to cling to if they're a climbing variety, which they probably are. You can put them fairly close together, ours go in at about 2cms apaart, that's all. Last year, the sparrows discovered them & kept biting the tops off, but this stopped when I strung old CDs across the top of the netting & we got a good crop. Easily enough for a good stir-fry a week plus some bags to go in the freezer which we were still eating up to a couple of months ago.

Genuisscuffy

I agree with foxgloves use pea and bean netting up some canes - works fine for me

lisa26_2

Thanks everyone. I'm buying pea and bean netting for my beans so I'll use some of the pare stuff for my mangetout.

lolly5648

I have been trying to find sugarsnap seeds but haven't had any luck. Our local garden centre doesn't have any, neither do the supermarkets. Where does everyone get them from?

Lotus-eater

Everywhere online sells them.

Try Moreveg if you only want a few seeds, they only have postage of a pound and the seeds are cheap.

Sally_A

I'm doing Mangetout (Oregon Sugar Pod) started about 48 off in pots in March and planted them out yesterday, about 6 inches tall, I use approx 5 - 6ft twiggy hazel sticks that I collected earlier in the year. The back of the packet says you can sow direct, 2 inches apart, so I will sow more between the ones that went out yesterday, for a 2nd crop.

Beware - even though they are not as susceptible to pea moth grubs, the later sowings do occasionally suffer from it, so it's always wise to hold your mangetout up to the light before you cook it.

foxgloves

I got my Sugar Lord sugar snap seeds from either Thompson & Moprgan or Marshall's....actually, think it was probably Marshall's. They are a versatile variety cos you can pick them as Mangetout or let them get to the plumper sugar snap stage. They are crisp, sweet & lovely in stirfries.