The peas have been down now since early February. They are now several centimetres tall and complete with tendrils so it’s time to make sure they have adequate support as they start to climb.

We have the peas in quite a deep container – about 40 cm – as their roots can be extensive. In order to maximize the growing area, I planted the peas in a circle only a few centimetres from the edge of the container.

Building a Trellis

I aimed to maximize space by building a trellis out of bamboo and twine. Here are the steps I followed:

1. Place a number of bamboo canes around the very edge of the container so they are pointing straight up in the air.
2. Counterbalance the bamboos by tying a piece of string (twine, rope, yarn etc. – whatever takes your fancy) around each bamboo at it’s base, leading it under the container and tying it to the base of the bamboo directly across the diameter of the container from it.
3. Tie the bamboos together tight at the top. This adds stability and as they are now counterbalanced, they won’t just all move into the centre. There should be a slight bend in them caused by the tension.
4. Finally, tie some twine at the bottom of one of the bamboos (I actually tied it to the container handle) and lead it up and around the outside of the bamboos. Maintain a reasonable tension and tie off at the top. I looped it around some of the bamboos on the way to give it a bit of extra grip and stop the spiral slipping.

This should give the peas enough stability and support to grow. Maximizing space usage means we maximize the light our plants get and (hopefully!) produce.

Spring Onions

I planted some spring onions in the middle of the circle of pea plants so there wasn’t good soil going to waste in the container. They require much less root room and if all goes to plan will get sufficient light to grow in the middle of the peas. They’re only just coming up now so set your eyes to strain!