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Beans, Peas & Legumes

the difference between snow pea and sugar snap plants

12 years ago

Okay so I planted two rows of sugar snap and two rows of snow peas on the same trellis. The trellis runs east to west and the snow peas are on the north side and the sugar snap are on the south.

So my question is how will I tell the difference between the two when its time to harvest because I don't want the snow peas to get to big right?

Are sugar snap peas flat like snow before they mature?

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Comments (6)

farmerdilla
12 years ago
No Sugar Snap peas look like shelling peas. Round pods, just more fleshy and tender. Snow peas are flat and thin. You need to pick these before the peas start showing.
precioushoney
Original Author
12 years ago
So,I keep posting replies but they arent showing up, hopefully they dont all pop up at once LOL

Before they mature will they still look like shelling peas?

I guess im just wondering if there will be a distinct diffrence while they develop?
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Jennie, I can't help with your climate questions, but snap peas are wonderful fresh. Since you've never grown them before, you could always start small and see what you think before committing a large space to them. But if you've got the space available, definitely go for it. (As for the weather, if you're only talking a couple dollars for a packet of seeds, try it and see what you get -- if they don't grow well, save the rest of the pack for late winter/early spring and see if that works better.) As far as support, I've grown dwarf snap peas in containers with an inexpensive tomato cage (the flimsy WM kind) in the middle to help get them started. They do cling to each other, but they also cling to the wire cage and I think this helps them withstand wind a bit better. For harvesting, snap peas are eaten whole -- you eat both the pod and the peas inside, all at once. The pods are nice and crunchy when raw. You can also add them to stir-frys or just steam them as a side dish. We tend to mostly eat them raw in our house. They are one of those "pick a handful while out in the garden and eat half of them before you get back to the kitchen" kind of veggies. :) Good luck! Kathy
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I am also in zone 6b. I will be planting my snow peas this weekend. Good luck to you! Peas are pretty frost hardy, so you can try them a little early and take your chances. If you succession plant (every 2 weeks plant a few, for example) you might be able to find the optimum time for your garden. Experiment and have fun. Most of the time there are far too many seeds in the packets for me, so you can lose a few without worrying about losing your harvest.
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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.
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I planted both Sugar Snap and Sugar Ann this year and was pleased with both here in central NH. I thought both stood up well considering the hot weather we had but I planted early after warming the soil with black plastic. I think my first planting date was April 9. I will plant less Sugar Snaps next year and try for a later planting. I grew two pea pod varieties that I didn't like at all. One was an Amish variety that a friend raved about and another was a yellow pod. Perhaps they would have done better if I hadn't planted them so late. What worked great was using concrete reinforcing mesh as pea fences. They are held in place by metal posts. The sugar snaps probably got 7 ' tall so they needed a strong fence. I should have also tied them up sooner. They don't seem to cling to the fence at all. In the vicinity of the Sugar Anns I found a couple of struggling plants really late in the season. I think they seeded from dropped pods. I wished I had grown a fall crop of these. NEXT year!
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farmerdilla
12 years ago
Snap peas ( Sugar Snap is one variety) are essentially shelling peas with a tender fleshy pod. They can be used at any up until the pod begins to dry. Like snap beans, as they approach maturity, they are best used as shellies. Both shelling peas and snap peas are normally used in immature stages. There is a group of peas usually referred to as soup peas, which are used as mature (dried peas)
Snow peas are grown for the immature pods and tender shoots. The actual peas have little use. These have to be picked before the peas begin to form in the pod. A pod containing peas will be tough and stringy.
precioushoney
Original Author
12 years ago
I know that snow peas have to be picked before the peas get big, and I know that Sugar snap fill out more.

What I want to know is, if a sugar snap and a snow pea were side by side while growing would there be visual cues as to which is which?

Thanks for the replys btw :)
farmerdilla
12 years ago
Yes the difference is so obvious tha a blind person could easily tell the difference. Paper thin flat pods versus round meaty pods. There are also obvious visual differences most of time. Snap peas have white blossoms, many snow pea varieities have purple blossoms. Snap pea vines are medium green, many snow pea cultivars have a more yellowish green vine.
precioushoney
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Farmerdilla! That is the answer I was looking for. I posted my first question before my coffee kicked in or else I would have realized it wasnt as clear and i would have liked it.

Thanks everyone!

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