The Organic
Revival
Vegetables · Legume

Growing peas

Pisum sativum · also called MatarA cool season legume sown straight into the bed for its sweet green pods. It likes mild days, takes light frost while young and fixes its own nitrogen.

West coast: Kerala, Goa, Konkan, coastal Karnataka, south Gujarat

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.The coast stays hot and humid all year, and peas need a cool spell of about 10 to 18°C to flower and fill pods. Sown in the open on the coast, they wilt and give few pods.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
Green pea pods hanging on a pea plant among its leaves
Photo: Андрей Перцев · CC0
Not suited here

Not a crop for this region

The coast stays hot and humid all year, and peas need a cool spell of about 10 to 18°C to flower and fill pods. Sown in the open on the coast, they wilt and give few pods.

Where it grows nearest

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Not suited here

Sowing now in:Temperate HimalayaSub-tropical foothillsNorth-west plainsGangetic plainsNorth-east hills and valleysArid westCentral plateauDeccan plateauSouth interiorEast coast
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Today
  • Not suited here
West coastKerala, Goa, KonkanNot suited hereSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
West coastNot suited here
Temperate HimalayaOctober to NovemberMarch to JuneSeptember to October
Cold desertApril to MaySeptember to October
Sub-tropical foothillsLast week of OctoberMid-October to mid-November
North-west plainsMid-October to mid-November
Gangetic plainsOctober to November
North-east hills and valleysOctober to mid-November
Arid westMid-October to mid-November
Central plateauMid-October to November
Deccan plateauMid-October to November
South interiorOctober to NovemberFebruary to March
East coastOctober to November

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH2,3,1,6

    6 to 7.5

    Well drained, fertile loam. Light soils suit an early crop and heavier soils a main season crop. It does poorly on acid soils below pH 5.5.

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the West coast, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun. Pick an open bed away from tall shade.

  • Temperature1,3,6

    Grows best at 10 to 18 °C

    Takes light frost.

    Monthly temperatures for the West coast aren't in the library yet.

Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the West coast, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Keep it away from

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Grow the seed crop with the same seed rate and spacing as the table crop. Keep 5 m between two varieties.

When the seed is ready

Leave the pods on the plant until they turn dry and papery and the seeds rattle.

Cleaning the seed

Pick the dry pods, shell them by hand and dry the seed in the shade for a few days.

Store fully dry seed in a sealed tin or jar in a cool, dry place.

After the last picking1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

After the last picking, chop the vines and dig them in or compost them. Remove plants that died of wilt or rot.

Rotation

Follow a three year rotation with cereals where wilt is a problem. Do not grow peas straight after brinjal, cauliflower, carrot or peas; tomato or chilli is a better crop before them.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 3Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Garden pea)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  2. 4Horticulture: Vegetables: PeasTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  3. 5Economic potential of pea farming in Himachal Pradesh (Indian Farming 74(12): 15-17, December 2024)ICAR (Indian Farming); authors at Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, SolanRead the source

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