how much room do pea plants need to grow?

Question

how many seeds can i put in a plastic cup?
i have put 12 in already and they seem fine but how many more can i put in?

i am doing a science project on what happens if a pea plant doesnt have enough room to grow and i was wondering i have put 12 in my plastic cup and thats the most i have in the 6 different cups. do you think that the one with the most seeds of pea plants will grow or die cause most of them now are looking very healthy and they are much biger then the cup with one seed. and if so what is makeing them grow faster and healthier? thanks!!

Answer 1

What is going to happen,Megan,is that the cup with 12 is ultimately going to do worse than the cups with smaller amounts.
It doesn't really matter what type of seed you sow,all plants will do better the less they have to compete.
You see the more plants you have -given that each cup size is the same-the smaller share each individual plant is going to get from the available nutrients or feed from the compost or soil you've put them into.It's like sharing a dinner between 2 people or sharing the same dinner between 10 people-each has to have a smaller amount.
Each plant will also want its fair share of water too and this is another problem your peas will fight over.So in the end because those crowded out will get smaller amounts of what they need they're not going to perform as well as ones given more of what they need.
I think you can try putting more in because this is an experiment rather than growing seeds for the garden or for real food and see what happens.
Your success in the pot that has most seeds sown is going to prove a little misleading in the long run because these just happen to have germinated first.
You've probably already noticed that you can sow a number of seeds at the same time but when they germinate can be days apart.
Seeds are like that.Some are keen to grow and others are lazy-just like humans!!
Good luck and I hope your science project comes out tops!

Answer 2

hmm... 12 is definately too many if you're actually planning on getting food out of these plants. my mother grows peas in her garden, usually about three or four rows. she spaces the rows about twelve or so inches apart, and in each rows puts two to three seeds in one hole, and spaces these holes about three to five inches apart, and they do pretty well. but if you're just growing it for a class experiment or something and don't plan to yield any food, then.. 12 is what youve got, but don't add any more.

hope this helps

Answer 3

thats enough 12 is to many