[parttimer]

I have always enjoyed growing Sweet Peas and pride myself on putting on a good show, this year's been a disaster with really short stems that aren't worth picking. The seed was from a reputable dealer although near it's shelf life, I normally sow in October-November but with changing my job it got put off until the spring. Would either of these cause the shortness of the stems, or was it just the the good old gardeners excuse.....the weather.



Altered "sweat" to "sweet" in thread title for future search purposes (only just noticed!)

[Sparkyrog]

spring sowing can give you shorter stems.

[mumofstig]

Do what I do - make sure you are growing a variety that is noted for long stems. Like Gwendoline

on extra long, strong stems and have a rich, heady perfume.
http://www.unwins.co.uk/gwendoline-sweet-pea-seeds-pid888.html

Some of the older varieties have short stems 

[parttimer]

I normaly spend hours choosing varieties and far to much money and stem length is very much a factor. I did cut back on the amount of plants this year from 200 back to 100!

[Goosegirl]

Love sweet peas but by no means an expert! I don't grow any special variety, just choose a good mix of colour with the caveat of having a strong scent. Probably sow late-March to April depending on the weather and pinch out the main shoot. They always start out with long stems but, as the season goes on, the later flowers always have shorter stems.

[Annen]

They always start out with long stems but, as the season goes on, the later flowers always have shorter stems.

Do you know why that is, Gg? Mine have been like that, very long at first and getting shorter as time goes on.  Do you think it might be shortage of food? Maybe feeding them more (mine only get the occasional general feed)might lengthen the season.

[JayG]

I do exactly what Goosegirl does - this year's were 25p from Lidl and I'm delighted with both the colour and the scent. 

Just to complicate things, the stems are already of varying lengths and I expect them to get shorter as the plants run out of steam.

I suppose there's every chance that feeding them would help them keep their vigour for longer, but eventually of course they will be just plain knackered (and deservedly so!)

[parttimer]

The stems will naturally shorten has the plant ages and gets weaker. But my plants this year produced stems 4-5 inches long from the start, this is the same seed used last year that gave me 14-16 inch dropping to 10-12 towards the end of the season. The only thing I did different was sowing in the spring not the previous autumn.

[JayG]

Compared with last year you have to suspect it's a combination of higher temperatures and less water encouraging the buds to open before the stems have reached their usual length (I'm guessing, of course!)

[parttimer]

JayG that makes an awful lot of sense and confirms what I was thinking.

[devonbarmygardener]

I've never made winter sowings and I had lovely long stems on mine.
They've been over for weeks now but I have loads of seeds saved for next year

[Goosegirl]

Compared with last year you have to suspect it's a combination of higher temperatures and less water encouraging the buds to open before the stems have reached their usual length (I'm guessing, of course!)

Rather an educated guess there JayG and I go with your thoughts. Also, personally I don't think sowing in autumn or spring makes any difference - it's just like what you do with veg to get a head-start on the season, but only if they survive the winter which, depending on how mild or severe it is, can make a difference as to if they survive and in what condition. When you think how tall sweet peas grow, the initial lower flowers get the benefit of a shorter supporting "main stem(s)" route (stems plural - if you have pinched them out). As the season progresses, the main stems lengthen to produce more flowers, so it takes more effort for the plant to transport nutrients up to reach the top of their growth. I'm thinking phloem and xylem processes now and I left school in the mid-sixties! :blink:

[JayG]

Gosh, TWO people think I'm talking sense, and both in the same thread. 

Next year I shall be sowing the remainder of my 25p packet of Lidl sweet pea seeds mistakenly believing I'm an expert on the subject. 

I left school in the late sixties GG, and my last 'A' level was Botany, which I didn't really distinguish myself in, getting a "D" - words like xylem and phloem sounded more like nasty flu symptoms than anything to do with plants.    

[Goosegirl]

All plants have two separate sorts of cells as a means to get nutrients and water into its system. Xylem transports water and soluble stuff from the roots upwards to the leaves, Phloem transports food from the leaves to the rest of the plant. By the way, I left school before you but don't know why I just remember this.