Pea Seeds That Germinate vs. Dry Peas

Eat Your Peas and Plant Them Too

• Dried peas used for sprouting or eating grow on the vine until they mature and dry naturally. Once dry, the peas remain dormant until you plant, or cook them. When you plant pea seeds, the moisture in the soil stimulates germination and the seeds sprout. If you cook the pea at this point, it gets soft and edible. Once cooked, however, the pea will never germinate. You can plant dried peas from the market as long as they are not heated, cooked or otherwise altered.

Test Before Planting in the Garden

• If you purchase your seed from a seed supplier, they should germinate as long as you follow the right planting and early seedling development protocols. If you're planting dried peas from the bulk bin at the grocery store however, it's a good idea to test a few for germination before you invest a lot of time planting the garden. Once harvested, you can keep pea seeds for three years before planting. After three years, germination rates go down.

How to Test Dried Peas for Germination.

• Place the test pea seeds on a damp paper towel about 1 inch apart. Lay a second damp paper towel on top of the seeds, and then slip the whole thing into an air tight plastic bag. Keep the peas between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Check the peas every few days to check for new shoots. Peas germinate within nine days between 60 and 75 F.

Pretreated vs. Organic Pea Seeds

• Seed suppliers sell pretreated pea seeds for planting. The seeds, treated with a fungicide, resist diseases like dampening-off and rot. With growing awareness about organic, you can find untreated seeds. Planting treated or untreated seeds depends on your preference, just make sure you never use seeds intended for planting as food to avoid any risk of ingesting seed pretreatments.

Harvesting Dried Peas For Replanting and Storing

• Harvesting peas for replanting and for use as dry edible peas requires the same process. Wait until the pods start drying out on the plant. Pea pods change from green to brown as they dry and mature. Shake a pod. You should hear the drying peas rattling inside. Cut the drying pods from plant then spread them out to dry on a table or screen.

Drying and Storing Peas

• Let the pods dry for two weeks after harvesting then shell the dried peas and discard the pods. Now you can store the dried peas for eating or replanting. If you want to replant the dried peas, keep them in the refrigerator between 32 and 40 F in an air-tight jar or container. If you plan to store them for culinary purposes, keep the peas in a jar with a tight fitting lid on the shelf in the pantry.