I grew peas in 5 gallon bucket last year and they did quite well. I don't recall how many I had in each bucket but it was definitely more than 8 (I direct sowed and used innoculent). Be sure to stake them - I hung mine about 5 feet off the ground and ended up with a pea blob that climbed all over itself, the cukes next door, the fence - you get the idea...

I've got mine planted in under the bed storage containers - the first round, i should have planted them closer together - there are about 15 or so seedlings in there now. I did inoculate them, and they seem to be pretty happy, despite all the rain we've been having around here!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:26468}}

I've grown mine in 3.5 gallon buckets, five plants to the bucket, BUT this it was a little crowded, I'll cut back to four plants per bucket from here on out.

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