I have had a disaster this year with my sweet peas sown last Autumn. They didn’t fare too well in the cold greenhouse. I gave them a long root run but probably didn’t give them consistent watering and TLC. So by spring they were thin specimens with lacy leaves eventhough I had pinched them out. Because they didn’t look too good I didn’t feed them up and cosset them but just plonked them in the ground. Well it serves me right and I have a very poor showing at the moment.

Next year will be different and I have already made plans and placed an order for 36 plants from Unwins ‘Super Fragrant Collection’. which consists of Heathcliff, Bobby’s Girl, Valentine, Southampton, Scartlett, and Lively Lassie. I will take delivery in March or April 2009 of healthy plants grown by a nursery. As I have paid good money for them I will take great care, prepare the ground and look after them. Hopefully we will get the sun to make them excel.

Unwins are Sweet Pea specialists and the plant collections I could have chosen include Showbench, Cut flower, and Mixed unnamed collections. They also do plentys of seed varieties and mixes. So for me next season it is plants over seeds (but may be I will do some seeds as well). I am not yet ready to join the National Sweet Pea society but if I do well with my plants I may well do so

An excellent way to start off sweet peas, is to use a piece of old guttering.

• Fill the gutter with compost and place seeds at appropriate intervals (3cm apart). They can be sown from March to May
• Place the piece of guttering at a slight angle so that excess water will drain away.
• Keep well watered and when the seedlings have reached a height of 5-6 inches they can be planted out.
• The advantage of using plastic guttering is that it becomes easy to plant out. Just push the seedlings out of the guttering and drop into a hole and the appropriate planting distance.
• Growing in plastic guttering makes it easier to protect the vulnerable seedlings from slugs and snails. They can also be grow indoors to give the seedlings a head start.

Sowing Sweet peas.

• The best results from sweet peas come from seedlings sown in October under a cold frame. You can also sow in early spring; however, these will flower later and will be more susceptible to mildew later in the season.
• To help germination you can chip away at the hard outer skin of sweet pea seed. However, this is not necessary.
• It is important to avoid seeds getting waterlogged as they are prone to rotting.

Sweet Pea Tubes.

The roots of sweet peas grow deep, therefore, when sowing use deep pots (they don’t need to be wide)

Hardening Off.

Sweet Peas are hardy, and can survive frosts; however, if grown in a cold frame they need to be hardened off before planting out. Sweet peas can also be sown directly

Planting out.

When planting out, it doesn’t matter so much if the soil around the roots comes away. The important thing is to water them in well.

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