How to Grow Peas Indoors

Once you know how to grow peas indoors, you’re going to want to try every type of sugar, snow, shell, and snap pea.  With a simple setup and some seeds, you can grow peas for pea pods or shoots right inside your home.

Along with peas, indoor vegetable gardening shows you how to grow many different veggies and herbs in the same space.

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Growing Peas Indoors

A Delicious Surprise!

Many gardening guides list seeds that can be started indoors, while others are better off sown directly in the ground.

Peas are one of those plants that flourish with direct outdoor sowing (and do not like being transplanted).

However, one year I decided to try starting peas indoors to see how they would perform. I proceeded to forget about them (but still watered all of the plants) and when I finally checked, they were filled with pea pods!

I love pea shoots (the tender new growth which tastes the same as the peas) in my daily salads so this was a very happy discovery.

How To Grow Peas Indoors

1Sow the Seeds Indoors

Sow the peas as directed on the seed package.

If you are new to growing from seed, I have a complete guide here: Seed Starting for Beginners.

Use organic growing medium suitable for vegetables.

If you have room, sow directly into 4-6 inch pots (or larger) so you won’t need to transplant for many weeks if at all.

I put just one seed in each pot.

I’ve tried growing many different varieties of peas indoors over the years and all of them provided pea shoots and often peas as well.

Use whatever variety you want and keep track of how they grow. We each have different indoor growing climates so results will vary.

2Provide Adequate Light and Water

Keep the grow lights on at least 8-10 hours a day. Some say they need quite a bit more (12-16 hours a day) but I have not found this necessary. Start on the low end and add on as needed.

You can see my grow light setup here including details on exactly which bulbs I like to use.

Alternately you can grow them near a window receiving 8 hours of full sun per day. I find they do better with lights but a good southern facing window (northern hemisphere) could certainly work. Just don’t let them get too warm.

Check on your peas daily and water as needed.

3Add Trellis

Provide trellis or supports as the vines grow.

I’ve done this with and without supports. Without supports the plant flops over but still produces pods.

I like using trellis to provide better air flow and make it easy to reach all parts of the plants.

I use twist ties or twine to tie the pea vines to the trellis as they grow.

My favorite trellis is individual pieces of  grid wire storage shelves which I hang from my grow light shelving unit.

4Harvest Shoots and Pods

As your peas grow, the plant will flower and eventually produce peas in pods.

As you go you can harvest some of the pea shoots for salads and pick the pods regularly when they are ready. They are edible at any time but you can hold off until the peas are full size too.

The plants should last for several months.

Related: How to Grow Food Indoors

5Sow More

The benefit of indoor vegetable gardening is that you are not governed by the weather.

You can sow peas every couple of weeks to have a continuous harvest ongoing.

Pea flowers are beautiful all on their own!

Growing Peas Outdoors

While indoor peas are very good, there is nothing quite as sweet and delicious as peas grown directly outdoors in cooler spring or fall weather. And you usually grow a lot more in a larger space.

This guide will help you choose different varieties to try:

More more see
How to Grow Peas

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛