Powdery Mildew Disease on Peas

Posted on 16. Aug, 2011 by Tracey in Veg Plot

Twice this year I have seen the dreaded powdery mildew disease, once on my Mange Tout right at the end of their season in June and now just as my late peas ‘Jaguar’ are into their growing period in August.

What is Powdery Mildew?

It is a fungal disease that spreads onto the plant leaves and pods leaving a chalky white dusting of its spores over infected areas.

Reasons Pea Plants can have Powdery Mildew:

• The disease occurs in dry periods,
• Poor air circulation around the plants i.e. planted too close together,
• Too much shade for the plants i.e. over-shadowed by your runner beans
• Non regular watering – keep your plants moist to keep the disease away.

Peas with Powdery Mildew

What Powdery Mildew does to the Plant

It appears first as yellowish spots and then develops into the white chalky spots across the leaves and eventually spreads to the pods.

Once the disease gets hold, the leaves can be distorted or may turn brown and drop off and your pea pods may not be able to form the peas inside properly due to the disease taking away the plants energy to produce peas.

My Pea Plants are Infected, what do I do next?

Powdery Mildew tends to only spread to like plants so if it has infected your peas its unlikely to spread to your beans as well if they are in the same plot.

If you have pea pods on the plant, you can either pick them early or I leave them for a few more weeks to see if the peas form inside as I won’t give up to this disease without a fight! It seems a waste to remove the plants from the ground immediately especially if you have pods on the plants. It is perfectly ok to eat the peas as the disease cannot infect the peas inside the pods. Don’t eat any diseased pea pods though.

Eventually or immediately (if there are no pods on the plant) you will have to remove the plants from the ground and do not compost. Throw them away or burn them.

Pea Flowers

When can I sow more Peas?

At least there’s some goods news, you can sow peas in autumn (October) to overwinter underneath a cloche (or in a greenhouse) for harvesting in spring and fingers crossed we don’t get the coldest winter on record again like last year otherwise they will be fine.

Read my Guide on How To Sow Autumn Peas. There’s more tips on how to grow peas and beans on the links below.

Other Pea and Bean Posts you may be interested in:

• 5 Common Pests and Diseases of Peas and Beans
• Sow Smooth Round Peas in October for a Spring Harvest
• Tips for Growing Peas Overwinter (Sept to June)
• Growing Broad Beans in the Autumn
• A Vibrant vegetable Feast for the Eyes
• 2011 A Bean Odyssey

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