southerly pea ( Vigna unguiculata ) , also known as cowpeas , black - eyed peas or crowder peas , are technically beans , not pea . Like green pea plant ( Pisum sativum ) , they are legume , fixing nitrogen in the stain and enrich it for later crops . Unlike green peas , they thrive in hot weather condition and tolerate drought well . Check the Latin name when bribe peas ; some types of southerly peas and some types of immature peas are sell as ‘ field peas ’ , but they are grown and harvested quite otherwise .
There are several varieties of Southern pea . study types are robust , vinyl and small - seeded . The starchy seeds of crowder peas , which are drear after cookery , seem tightly packed in their pods . Cream pea are small plant with wanton seeded player . grim - eyed pea are intermediate - sized works producing creamy come with black ‘ eye ’ spot .
How to Grow and Care for Southern Peas
Southern peas are frost - sensitive , and they are more susceptible to diseases if planted in cold wet soil . The Cooperative Extension recommends planting when stain temperatures reach 60 F. In NY , white potato are presuppose to be planted when the soil reaches 60 F , and the blooming of the first blowball is reckon to be a fairly reliable land temperature signaling . In SC the Extension recommends planting Southern peas from tardy March to mid - April along the seashore , or during May in the Piedmont area .
Plant bush - type peas 1/2″ – 1″ thick and 3 – 4″ asunder , vining peas 6 - 12 ” apart , in well - drained rich land . If you have n’t antecedently plant peas or beans in the spot where you ’re putting them , you may need to buy an organic leguminous plant inoculant of Rhizo bium , a symbiotic bacterium that helps pea plant fix nitrogen in the soil for the next crop .
Weed peas diligently when they ’re modest . As they produce they will shade off most weeds out , and crop around them after they bloom may damage their roots . You wo n’t have to water much , as southerly pea are especially drought - large-minded .
Southern peas are quick to harvest when the pods can well be shelled out ; this may occur between 65 and 125 twenty-four hours from planting , depend on the kind you ’ve chosen .
Pests and Diseases of Southern Peas
Several types of insect attempt Southern peas .
Cowpea curculios cause major damage to cowpea throughout the Southeast . These small black weevils chew into acquire pods and lay eggs on seeds . Larvae wipe out some seeds and pollute others . You ’ll see small hole and shallow furrow in peapods . Curculios are concentrated to control . Crop gyration – wait 4 years between plantings of cowpeas in the same dirt – deoxidise the chance of curculio plague .
Cornstalk borers chew into the stalk of young seedlings and stunt or kill them . adult are small brown moths ; larvae are small dark-brown striped caterpillars , which tunnel through the soil near industrial plant stems . They ’re hard to keep in line . exercise crop gyration and works herbs and wildflowers to attract louse predatory animal .
Aphids are tiny easygoing - corporal puppet less than 1/10″ long . They suck plant juices , causing pale spots followed by loop , puckering and yellowing of leaves and stems . They egest a sugary liquid called honeydew that often farm a sooty disgraceful mold . Mild aphid infestations can be controlled by spraying plant vigorously with water in the former morning every other day , 3 fourth dimension in all . Heavier infestation may require organic insecticidal soap or pyrethrum .
Half - column inch - long , shield - shaped stinkbugs eat all parts of plants as well as sucking juices , causing yellowing and wilting . you could handpick these insects . ( Make certain you identify them correctly first ; they calculate similar to some predatory insects , which corrode other garden pests . ) you may also implant herbs and wildflowers near your field peas . These plants draw dirt ball , which prey on stinkbugs . As a last resort you might spray with organic insecticidal soap ( in force against larvae ) or pyrethrum ( in effect against adult ) , but stinkbugs are fair insecticide resistive .
foliage - leg it hemipteran , heavy brown insects with boneheaded browned hindmost legs and white zigzag patterns on their wings , eat plants and suck juices . They ’re hard to control . Practice crop rotary motion and plant herb and wildflowers to attract insect predators .
southerly peas hurt from few serious diseases . Fusarium wilt may do yellowing , low yield and plant last . Southern stem blight may also cause plants to die ; you ’ll see white mold around the fundament of affected plants . Rotate crops , add organic matter to stain , and plant in warm grunge to reduce the risk of disease .
Want to learn more about field peas?
Check out these resources : Field Peas to Foie Gras : Southern recipe with a French Accentby Jennifer Booker ( Amazon affiliate link)Southern Peasfrom Clemson Cooperative ExtensionHome Gardening Series : Southern Peasfrom University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension
Please remark that link to Amazon from Gardening Channel are affiliate links .
