When you grow peas, you look forward to harvest day and fresh garden peas. But there’s nothing worse than taking care of pea plants only to have something eat them and ruin your crop. If you’ve seen damage to your pea plants, you may be wondering, “What is eating my pea plants?” Keep reading to learn about common pea plant pests, the damage they do, and how to find the culprit ruining your pea patch.
Common Pea Plant Pests
A variety of pests find pea plants irresistible. Here are some of the usual suspects that may be damaging your plants:
Birds
Birds like sparrows cardinals finches, crows, and others enjoy snacking on tender pea shoots and leaves. They may also damage or eat developing pea pods. Look for cleanly cut stems, holes in leaves, missing shoots, and half-eaten pods. You may even spot birds dining on your plants.
Slugs and Snails
These slimy creatures chew irregular holes in pea leaves and can devour seedlings overnight Look for shiny slime trails around your garden as evidence of their presence They feed mostly at night and hide under boards, rocks and foliage during the day.
Insects
Aphids, bean beetles, pea moths, pea weevils, leafminers, and cutworms will munch on pea plants. Scan leaves for small insects like aphids or the tiny larvae of pea moths and leafminers. Check for notched leaves or wilting, dying plants which can indicate cutworm damage. Look for bean beetles and pea weevils dining on leaves and pods.
Rodents
Voles and mice gnaw on seeds, roots, and stems. You may find partially eaten seeds or seedlings sheared off at soil level. Other clues are small holes in the ground, surface runways in mulch, and droppings.
Deer and Rabbits
Hungry deer and rabbits eat tender shoots, leaves, and pods. Look for clean cuts on stems and ragged edges on leaves and pods from gnawing. You may also spot hoof prints or scat in or around your garden.
Stopping Pea Plant Pests
Once you’ve identified what’s munching your pea patch, you can take steps to protect your crop. Here are some effective tactics:
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Barrier methods: Keep birds, mammals, and insects away by covering plants with netting or row cover fabric. Make sure to seal the edges.
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Traps: Set slug and snail traps like beer traps to capture these nighttime nibblers. Live traps can remove mice and voles.
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Repellents: Use organic scent or taste repellents formulated to discourage rabbits, deer, birds, etc. Reapply frequently.
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Scare tactics: Fake owls, flashing lights, or metallic ribbons may deter birds. Dogs/cats can scare deer and rabbits.
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Garden maintenance: Clean up the garden to get rid of places where bugs and slugs can hide. Attract insect predators like birds and beneficial insects. Handpick large insects and slugs.
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Insecticides: Spray insecticidal soap, neem oil, or spinosad to kill small chewing insects. Apply at first sign of bugs.
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Fencing: Install tall fencing around your garden to keep out rabbits and deer. Use fine mesh screening at ground level to exclude rodents.
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Companion planting: Planting onions, garlic, and herbs like mint near peas can repel certain pests.
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Crop rotation: Moving peas and other legumes to a new spot each year limits some pest populations.
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Resistant varieties: Choose disease-resistant pea varieties less attractive to common pests.
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Timing: Planting early or late in the season can sometimes avoid peak pest populations.
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Sanitation: Promptly remove spent pea plants after harvest. This eliminates overwintering sites for some pests.
Protecting Your Pea Crop
Don’t let pests discourage you from growing delicious peas. A combination of preventive measures and prompt pest control when damage appears can help ensure a bountiful pea harvest. Identify what’s munching your peas, implement targeted solutions, and vigilantly watch for continued pest pressure. With a little effort, you can safeguard your pea patch and finally enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Root rot and Damping off
Caused by a number of fungi, root rot and damping off are other common pea problems exacerbated by cool, wet soil. Seeds become soft and rotted while seedlings fail due to sunken stem lesions. Older seedlings develop root rot when peas are planted in overly wet soil. Root rot fungi makes foliage yellowed, stunted, wilted or just plain dead looking. Should you be so inclined to look, roots will be brown, black or red with the outer layer of root peeling off. On occasion, lesions may appear. To prevent these fungal conditions, purchase commercially grown, disease free seeds and/or those pre-treated with fungicide. Again, rotate crops and be sure to plant in well draining soil with proper spacing. Do not over water.
Downy and Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew and downy mildew are both fungi that spread through spores. For downy mildew, spores spread best in cool, damp conditions; for powdery mildew, they spread best when it doesn’t rain. Fungicide application may be helpful as well as crop rotation. Remove debris at the end of the growing season and purchase disease free seeds.
As well as being in the soil, fusarium wilt can also be found in dead plants and other plant matter. Wilting is one of the first signs of this disease, slowly progressing to faded, yellowing foliage and stunted growth. Eventually most plants succumb to this fungal pathogen and die. There are fungicides that might help with the problem, but the best way to stop it from spreading is to keep your crops from getting infected in the first place. This can be achieved through regular rotation of crops and sterilization of the soil through solarization. Gardening tips, videos, info and more delivered right to your inbox!.
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What is eating Pea plant.
FAQ
What ate my pea plants?
Unfortunately the list of possible culprits includes cutworms, rabbits, chipmunks, and slugs/snails, even though the plants are under cover. Is the row cover (or plastic cover) secured tightly to the ground?.
How do you protect peas from pests?
A good prevention is to cover the plants with insect netting (floating row covers) from when they are babies. This will help to prevent them from becoming an issue!.
What is eating the leaves of my sweet peas?
Slugs and snails will attack young sweet pea seedlings, eating the leaves. They can be identified by the slime trails that they leave, as well as the damage they do.
What to spray on peas for bugs?
Control of Bean & Southern Pea InsectsActive IngredientPests ManagedInsecticidal Soap3 (0 day PHI)aphids, whiteflies, spider mitesMalathion1 (3 day PHI)aphids, spider mitesPyrethrin4 (0 day PHI)whitefliesSpinosad5 (3 day PHI)bean beetles, caterpillars, cowpea curculio, stink bugs.