Alpha is a peeling cultivar of an annual vegetable pea. It is suitable for growing in almost any region, good in fresh and canned form. To get a decent crop, you need to properly plant the crop and care for it during the growing season.
Alpha peas
Pea alpha is an early variety
Alpha peas are resistant to frost
Description of the variety, advantages and disadvantages
The Alpha variety was brought up by the All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Production, the Crimean Experimental Breeding Station participated in the work. The result is the following characteristics:
- semi-dwarf culture with a height of 50-55 cm;
- dark green beans, average length - 8 cm, width - 1.3 cm, inside contains 5-9 seeds;
- the pod is saber or slightly curved;
- the flesh is green, the taste is sweetish;
- early ripening variety - after germination before harvesting an average of 50 days passes;
- up to 10 knots are formed before the first bean, in total - up to 20 knots;
- simple stalk with shortened internodes;
- average productivity - 0.5 kg per square meter.
The Alpha variety has many advantages:
- outdoor cultivation;
- cold resistance;
- resistance to spring frost;
- early ripening;
- uniform size and color of beans;
- vast territory suitable for cultivation - only a few regions are excluded;
- lack of need for the organization of support on a bed;
- resistance to fusarium and ascochitosis;
- excellent taste characteristics;
- universality of fruits - can be consumed fresh, canned;
- the crop is effective as a siderate.
Alpha varieties have few drawbacks:
- excluded regions from the territory recommended for cultivation;
- instability to certain diseases;
- relatively low productivity.
Optimal conditions for growing
Alpha peas can be grown in many regions. The exception is the Ural, Volga-Vyatka and Northern regions.
For successful cultivation, certain conditions are necessary:
- soil is loamy, loamy or clay;
- the best option is neutral soil acidity of 6.5-7 pH, slightly acidic soil is allowed;
- the site is preferable sunny, it is also good to plant a crop under an apple tree;
- the landing place must be protected from the wind;
- peas feel good after cabbage, sugar beets, cucumbers, pumpkins, corn.
If the soil is too acidic, then chalk or dolomite flour will help. You need to make them in the fall, and for spring digging it is better to use ash. With soil acidity above 8 pH, lime is required. For each square meter, 0.35 g of funds should be paid.
For dense soil, mulch is required. If the soil is clay and infertile, then in the spring before sowing peas, it needs nitrogen fertilizers.
The site for planting peas should be prepared in the fall. During the autumn digging, potassium-phosphorus fertilizer must be added. Using fresh manure is unacceptable, the culture does not tolerate it.
Landing
Pea Alpha is planted with seeds in open ground. Culture is not afraid of frost, so the landing can be planned on the 20th of April. You should focus on the climatic features of the region. Alpha seeds germinate at 2-5 degrees.
The growing season lasts a little more than one and a half months, so you can plant peas until the first July decade. It is worth planting the crop in parts with an interval of 2 weeks, then you can enjoy the fresh harvest longer.
There is nothing difficult in planting peas. You need to act according to the following algorithm:
- Stratification of planting material. Such preparation is carried out immediately before planting the crop. It is necessary to lower the seeds in hot water for 2 hours. Temperature - no higher than 55 degrees.
- Disinfection of planting stock. At this stage, it is good to use a weak solution of potassium permanganate, boric acid is also effective. Such preparation is the prevention of many diseases and pests.
- Soaking planting material. This step is optional, but allows you to accelerate the germination of seeds. Soak them for 12 hours.
- Bed preparation. It has to be dug up and rid of weeds in the autumn. If necessary, digging is repeated, especially with heavy soil. The earth must be loosened and leveled, grooves made. Between the rows should be left at 30 cm. The depth of the grooves depends on the characteristics of the soil. If it is light, then the seeds can be buried by 5-7 cm. In heavy soil, a depth of grooves of 3 cm is sufficient. Instead of grooves, it is convenient to make holes.
- Sowing seeds. They should be sprinkled with earth and lightly slap it. The distance between neighboring plants should be 15 cm, you can make a denser planting, so that later only the strongest shoots are left.
Shoots appear after about 1.5 weeks. During this period, the bed should be covered with a film, net or dry branches. Shelter will protect seeds from birds.
Outdoor crop care
Pea Alpha is quite unpretentious, but he still needs some care. This applies to watering, weeding, cultivating, hilling, pest and disease control.
Watering
Alpha peas should be watered regularly. For good growth, a crop needs moist soil. Watering is especially important during the flowering of peas and on hot days, which the plant does not tolerate well.
The frequency of watering depends on the growing season and weather. Before flowering, it is enough to water the culture once a week. When the first peduncles appear, increase the frequency of irrigation to 2-3 times a week, spending 10 liters per square meter. In the same mode, water the crop during fruiting, no matter how much it takes.
Drying of the soil must not be allowed, otherwise the peduncles and ovaries will fall.
Weeding, cultivating, hilling
You need to rid the beds from weeds regularly, otherwise the peas will grow poorly and wither. Effectively combine weeding with loosening. Plant debris should be removed immediately from the garden.
Loosening is required after each watering. Such manipulation does not allow the formation of a crust, which interferes with the penetration of water and oxygen.
Hilling should be carried out when the height of the culture reaches 15 cm.
Top dressing
After planting, the crop is sufficiently fertilized during the fall or spring digging. If the soil is depleted, you can use herbal infusion.
Effectively feed peas before flowering. You can use complex mineral fertilizer or microfertilizer with organic additives. It is recommended to make another top dressing before the formation of the ovaries.
Topping
If you want to increase the number of side shoots, resort to pinching the tops. This should be done while the height of the plants is less than 20-25 cm.
Supports
Supports for this grade are optional, but several can be arranged. The stems are held vertically due to the mustache, which are intertwined. Thanks to the supports, each bush will receive more sunny color, which will positively affect the growth and development of the crop, the timing of the harvest.
Pest and Disease Control
Alpha can be affected by powdery mildew. It manifests itself in white felt coating on leaves and stems. Affected plants should be removed immediately, since the spores of the fungus are spread by the wind, and the plantings should be treated with a fungicide. Prevention is the burning of plant debris in the fall and deep digging of the soil.
Pea Alpha can be affected by pests. More often it is a pea moth or aphid. You can cope with them with garlic infusion. To do this, take 0.3 kg of garlic, chop it, pour a bucket of water and leave for 10 hours. Use the resulting solution for spraying, every week can be repeated for prevention.
In the spring there is a risk of hitting a nodule weevil. Because of the beetles, the development of seedlings slows down, they can die. For prevention, it is necessary to burn plant debris and plant a crop in early spring. Fighting the pest should be a karbofos.
Harvesting and storage
Alpha peas are not harvested at a time, but gradually as the pods ripen. Harvesting is better in the morning. In the assembly of peas, there is nothing difficult - you need to carefully pick the pods, holding the stalk so as not to damage it.
Lightened and too dense pods with a white mesh are already overripe. They need to be removed faster, otherwise new ovaries will not form.
If you plan to plant the crop for the next year from your seed, then the required part of the pods must be left so that they are fully ripe. When at the bottom of the bush they begin to grow brown and dry, you need to cut the stem under the root and hang it in the room. It should be dry and well ventilated, in good weather there is enough canopy. Beans need 2 weeks to dry. Then remove the peas and sort. Get rid of blackened and deformed specimens. Dry the selected material.
Freshly pods can be stored in the refrigerator or in a cool place. For long-term storage, they resort to preservation, drying, freezing. Peas should be frozen portionwise, laying out in one layer; pour frozen beans into a bag or sealed container. Peas should be dried in a ventilated room, stored in sealed containers (bags, fabric bags and paper packaging are not suitable, because insects often wind up in them).
Pea Alpha is a variety with excellent characteristics and a minimum of flaws. The sweetish taste of this variety is to the liking of children and adults. Subject to all the rules for growing crops, it will give a good harvest.