One inch spacing -- yes, that's fine. Pinching, no, not as a matter of policy, but some are pinched a bit for pea shoots early on. Doesn't hurt them a bit, or even really seem to slow them down more than a few days. Separate variety -- you mean for shoots, no, doesn't matter, they all taste the same, same texture (which is very tender, as long as you only pick the young tips).

Yes, they're pretty easy to tell apart. The sugar snap peas have fleshy, watery, rather translucent pods, the shelling peas have thin, stiff, opaque pods. As soon as you've seen a few side by side, you'll see the differences. Sue

Okay, here's a reason for starting at the bottom of the threads and working my way up, instead of the other way around, LOL. I hadn't seen this earlier post on peas, but it's very interesting. Just to mention, I don't have luck with Burpee either. I'm now getting all my seeds from Johnny's because they out-perform the others so significantly. In any event, I appreciate the info on peas. I planted "Caselode" and am thinking maybe I'll try some different varieties and see what works best in my area. My problem with yield may also be that I let the peas get too big before picking? Or maybe my expectations are just off. I planted two 8' rows of them in the early spring. Seeds were planted about 2" apart and the rows were about 3" apart on either side of a trellis. Out of all that, I really only got one meal for a family of 4. Granted, I pulled the plants after I picked the first batch because they were already yellowing and I didn't see loads of new peas sprouting. Maybe I didn't give them a chance to give me more? How many shell peas does one really need to plant to get lots and lots of peas? My family loves them and would eat them every night, but instead, I'm giving them pole beans and zucchini. LOL

Your dwarf gray sugar snow peas will have purple blossoms...that's the easy one for me to tell early on. The others you list should all be white flowered. The pods on the Sugar Pod 2 Snow Peas will be flat for quite awhile and the seeds will show though as small bumps. Pick them before the seeds grow large and the pods become rounder since the pods will be tough by then. The Burpeeana Early Peas will have pods that do not stay flat for long and do not show small seeds through the pod. Of course you want to leave this growing until the pods fill with good sized peas. I'd have trouble telling the Sugar Daddy Snaps from the Burpeeana's but since both are picked with rounded pods you can try them and see which has the fibrous pod.....BINGO...that's the Burpeeana and the other should be the tender snap pea, Sugar Daddy. In my garden, heights have not always agreed with the reported info. And some keep growing aller for a longer time and the height when flowering begins changes alot.