Peas for shoots can be grown densely in trays of soilless growing medium. This method uses a lot of seeds, so you will want to find bulk seed at a good price. The link below will give you more information than you probably want. :-)

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Pea Sprouting Instructions

That is a very interesting link. I guess I should have differentiated between shoots and tips. Do people ever grow peas specifically for the tips, or is growing and harvesting shoots the best way to get what I am looking for? I will have to give this a try.

Thanks for the info jim!

You have good timing! I just noticed this variety of peas at Johnny's this weekend, and thought it looked interesting. Maybe this is something you would want to try (I don't work for Johnny's ;))

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-7262-gonzo.aspx

There was this one also, but I think the first fits what you were looking for better.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5746-dwarf-grey-sugar-pea.aspx

Hope that helps!
Jill

This is a bit confusing because the information I linked is under a heading of "pea sprouts", which I know is not what is wanted. If I understand correctly, "pea shoots" and "pea tips" are the same thing and can be grown either in the ground with conventional spacing or in trays, planted densely.

Or maybe it's just me who is confused. :-)

Jim

Well I was thinking that it worked better to grow a mature vine, and clip off the growing tips (main and side branches) as they appear. But the sprouting thing (in which you sprout the seeds and cut the whole baby plant) seems to be more productive, efficient and easy. And functionally I get the same thing- tender pea vines for eating. So sprouts/shoots seem like the way to go!

I just had a possibly awesome idea: what if I plant snow peas like a cover crop for my plot in the late fall, and then cut them to the ground for the tasty shoots, then let them grow back (the second growth is too tough to eat as sprouts) to serve as a cover crop? In order to judge whether or not this will work I need to know 1) will they survive being cut in cool weather and 2) do they really work well at fixing nitrogen for the soil and protecting from nutrient loss?

Maybe I'd better ask the folks on the soil forum about this.

Kitazawa Seed company also has a pea variety, Usui, that they claim is specifically grown for pea shoots.

I've seen bags of pea shoots being sold in Chinese stores, which makes me think that you'd find more information on your topic in the Asian Vegs. forum. Just a guess....

Here is a link that might be useful: kitazawa Seed: Usui