Arkansas

Pickin' southern peas has long been an Arkansas tradition. But despite the name, this Arkansas garden favorite is not native to America but rather originated in Africa.

According to Dr. Craig Andersen, vegetable horticulturalist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, the southern pea (Vigna unguiculata) traveled to Egypt and India around 3,000 years ago and soon become a fixture in European and Asian diets. Sometime in the 17th century, the pea made its way to the West Indies, then the United States.

In Arkansas, the southern pea comes in many varieties-blackeye, pink eye, purple hull, cream and crowder. The basic culture is the same for all the types, says Andersen.

Soil is an important part of growing southern peas. Andersen says, "Southern peas adapt to many soil types: medium fertility with pH of 5.8 to 7.0 is desirable. High fertility produces excessive vine growth and poor yields. N-fixing bacteria inoculants may increase yield especially in soils where peas have not been grown."

Plant the peas in late spring or early summer, once the soil is thoroughly warm. The vegetable is highly tolerant to hot weather so planting can continue throughout the summer, says Andersen. In the fall, plant the peas about 65 to 75 days before the average frost date.

Spacing is another thing to take into consideration when planting.

"The space required will vary a bit from variety to variety," says Andersen. "Generally, plant southern peas 1 inch deep at a rate of five to seven per foot."

Apply a light amount of fertilizer prior to or shortly after planting. Andersen says southern peas fix nitrogen from the air so excess nitrogen fertilizer may encourage vine growth at the expense of production. If rainfall is insufficient for a long period of time, irrigation during flowering and pod fill will help achieve maximum production.

Southern peas should be harvested at the mature green or roasting ear stage, which is characterized by fully-grown seed that have not started to dry.

Problems associated with southern peas can be extremely large vines that fail to set pods.

Andersen says a number of things can cause this problem.

"Failure to set pods can be caused by a number of things; the most common problem is overfertilization. Southern peas, if overfertilized, grow large, viney plants but fail to set many pods."

Thrips, an extremely small insect that attacks the blooms of southern peas, can also cause poor pod set. Also, they can cause the leaves to look curled and damaged. Andersen says, "The thrip rasps the tissue of the leaf's growing point, causing it to bleed or secrete plant juices. The thrip then feeds on these juices. Most plants recover from this damage. Thrips can be controlled with bifenethrin or malathion applied at seven- to 10-day intervals. Spraying should begin when the plants have just emerged since most damage occurs then."

Most southern peas are mature within 70 to 75 days.

For more information about southern peas or other garden vegetables, contact your county Extension office. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.

Date: 7/21/05