[topgardener]

Just pinch out the growing tips and keep them cool
Tony

[DIGGER]

R.I.P  sweet peas

[chrissie B]

ive tryed sweetpeas but they were very poor and stringy, whats the best soil to grow them in
chrissie b

[rainbow1]

R.I.P  sweet peas

oh dear - that's a shame. Time to start again I guess!

[Stripey_cat]

ive tryed sweetpeas but they were very poor and stringy, whats the best soil to grow them in
chrissie b

Rich soil.  They like it damp year-round, so dig in lots of manure or compost (head over to the veg section and search for "bean trench").  Don't over-feed them, or you'll get lots of sappy leaves and not many flowers, but keep them well watered through the summer.  Partial shade (or shade at midday only if you can manage it) helps keep them cool and wet, and also stops the flowers fading in the sun (orange and scarlet seem the worst effected).

[Paul Plots]

My Dad has sown the sweetpeas in pots again this year - at 93 it's his way of keep our allotment going from the home-front. He put them in mid Jan and is now not too happy that nothing's showing.

After all the cold I'm wondering if they may have rotted.... normally he has a bench full of healthy looking seedlings by now.

"To sow again or not to sow?" that is the question.

I think I ought to buy a couple more packets just in case

[rainbow1]

I did that and mine did the same. I have put more in & we'll wait & see!

[Paul Plots]

I did that and mine did the same. I have put more in & we'll wait & see!

How warm are you keeping your sown sweet-peas?

I'm pretty sure it was the cold what done the others in!

[rainbow1]

probably about 15 to 20 degrees as they are on the spare bedroom windowsill. Certainly not cold!

[chrissie B]

i think the heat got to them it was well over 40 last year , i think i will put them i a more shaded place , frontof house gets alot of shade .
all the bags of stuff hear is pretty much the same
chrissie b

[mumofstig]

Every year i tried with sweet peas and no luck, same with runner beans

Managed to grow the basket sweet peas in the pots on the covered terrace that was the best i could manage. As they don't climb i imagine they needed less water

[Paul Plots]

Once the sweet-peas are germinated I don't have any trouble with them. Mine usually have their feet in a bit of shade and grow on the end of my shed which is in full sun most of the day. Keeping the soil coolish and moist seems to work once they are established in the ground.

I usually have a row of something or other growing in front of the sweet-peas so this shades the roots a little.

[wellybabe]

I have been growing my first batch of sweet peas (planted deeply in toilet rolls with a mixture of compost and perlite); in my cold mini greenhouse.  They were planted up late October; have survived our fairly cold winter with all the snows and ice;  and I have pinched out the tops twice.  Yesterday I took them out for a little dunk in a tray of water for ten minutes as they don`t like to be totally dry; ( but also not waterlogged).  So far so good.  Just planted up my second batch and will sow more over the next three months.  This provides me with sweet peas in the garden and allotment from early summer (weather permitting) until October - when I start next years crop.

I prepare the ground by enriching it with compost from my bins; newspaper and cardboard to help provide the right conditions and I also provide tomato fertilizer when I am watering.  Above all don`t let your sweet peas dry out, people make the mistake of thinking that they look after themselves once planted.  They are not fussy and dont need constant care but you water and dead head regularly and they will flower all summer long. 

[Paul Plots]

Sounds good to me. wellybabe. It's ok if you can get them started in the first place. It's the first time in years that we've had trouble with germination - I am sure they were too cold and too damp.

[Stree]

I planted a batch in Sept, 3 to a 3" pot, in an unheated mini plastic greenhouse, soaked overnight first then into  barely moist compost, every one is doing well, and they have been out in the coldframe for the last two weeks.   Half have growing tips nipped and half the side shoots nipped........Pleased with them so far

I planted another lot in toilet tubes first week February and as of yesterday they are just peeping through.

 They will be going  where the runner beans were last year ( great crop  that was ) and I have double dug it and forked in lots of poultry bedding, straw and manure etc and this is being absorbed nicely.

One thing that seems to have worked RE: germination is soaking overnight ( no chitting) and then planting into only just moist compost ( general stuff not seed compost ) and then they do not get a watering until the first two leaves and then very lightly.
Seems to be going OK so far but with me its all best intentions and trial and error, but I think I have it about right now with sweetpeas.

PS the Sept sown are not too leggy, from 4" to 6" at the most, quite sturdy and very healthy looking. Lost the packet / label though so not a clue what type they are !