Pea pondering

New pea shoots on our windowsill

I've been pondering the peas on my windowsill - I'm sure those furthest away from the window germinate more quickly than those closest. Furthermore I'm sure the tray closer to the window that can be opened gets going more slowly than its companion.

It's only an anecdotal observation so far, but one that's worth looking into sometime. As you can see the peas closest to the camera are a little taller on the whole than those closest to the window. Will this difference remain until I harvest the shoots for my salad?

What you can't see is there's a small radiator on the wall below. Is it that making the difference? Or possibly there's a small draught at the window which affects germination and growth despite the double glazing? Or both? It's fascinating - to me at least - to think there could be small microclimate differences at work over just a few inches.

Enough pondering for now. I'm looking forward to these shoots gracing my salad in the next few days. It's a neat way of using up the peas from last year's opened packets.

What's growing on your windowsill?

Comments

  1. Sue Garrett15 March 2017 at 23:32

    Is it that the ones furthest from the window are growing taller to access more light?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP16 March 2017 at 08:35

      Possibly! They're quite upright though rather than bending towards it aren't they?

      Delete
  2. Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax!16 March 2017 at 13:42

    I suppose the answer is to keep turning. Radiators can be as annoying as they are helpful - drying out soil / potting compost and singeing new leaves as easily as helping early growth with their warmth. And I suppose the question of light is quite complex, partly associated with the compass direction of the window and the height of its frame. Seems to me maths are involved here. (And I avoid maths in favour of trial and error!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP16 March 2017 at 14:46

      Yes, these have now been turned Lucy and I expect they'll be turned a couple of times more before I harvest them next week. You've made a good point re the potential complexity of what's caused my observation. There's quite a few variables to investigate if the answer is to be found!

      Delete
  3. Margaret17 March 2017 at 14:26

    I grew some weeks ago which were the remains from the bottom of seed packets,some grew quite tall while others remained short. I thought it might have been because they were different varieties. The ones I have just done recently you can see on my latest blogpost

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP17 March 2017 at 16:04

      These are all the same variety, though you're right I could be seeing just normal variation that just happened to be in the same place!

      Delete
  4. Gardeningbren17 March 2017 at 14:43

    We do ponder these things don't we. Gardeners love to question the whys and what ifs. I usually grow Dwarf Grey and quite thickly as well, covering the top of the soil with the seeds and keeping moist. I assume they think I am trying to kill them when all they want to do is grow greens. Thank you very much I say, as I chop off their heads. This year for a change, I dumped the exhausted things upside down into a trench in the raised bed for their nitrogen. Lo and behold, some of them would have none of it and are growing on. Now why, I wonder, and if I let them grow, I wonder.... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sarah Shoesmith19 March 2017 at 15:19

    It's all to do with the fact that the ones closest to the window have worked out that they are for the chop the second they look remotely like lunch. The ones at the back are a sacrificial crop in the world of peas. I think that's the science behind it.

    ReplyDelete

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