How to Plant and Grow ‘Sugar Daddy’ Peas

28.01.2024 - 23:56 / gardenerspath.com / Kristine Lofgren

How to Plant and Grow ‘Sugar Daddy’ Peas Pisum sativum ‘Sugar Daddy’

Is there anything more refreshing than biting into a sweet, crispy snap pea?

‘Sugar Daddy’ might be one of the crispiest and sweetest you have ever tasted. And if you hate the annoying strings found on some cultivars, boy, will you love this one.

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The edible pods are stringless, so when you bite into the pod, you won’t be inadvertently flossing your teeth.

The plump, juicy peas inside are so delicious that you can also eat them like shelling peas and skip the shell altogether if you prefer.

If you’ve grown peas before, you know they’re one of the easier plants to grow, and ‘Sugar Daddy’ is no exception. If you haven’t, check out our guide to growing peas for some tips.

This guide will lay it all out, and here’s what we’ll discuss:

Ready to meet your ‘Sugar Daddy?’ Let’s jump in:

We have Dr. Calvin Lamborn to thank for ‘Sugar Daddy.’ Actually, we have Dr. Lambon to thank for sugar snap peas, in general.

As the research director of the Gallatin Valley Seed Co. in Twin Falls, Idaho, he bred the first sugar snap and released it to market in 1979.

There were likely edible pod peas for centuries before that, but they weren’t commercially or widely available, so he gets the credit for bringing them to the masses.

From that, he bred ‘Sugar Daddy,’ originally named ‘String Sugar Snap II,’ releasing it in 1983.

The edible pods are about three inches long and extremely crisp. The flavor is sweet and herbaceous with a hint of floral.

The plant is a semi-dwarf type that grows just 18 inches tall, but the harvest is prolific. Each