Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: purplebean on February 18, 2008, 13:55

Title: Sweet peas - how many?
Post by: purplebean on February 18, 2008, 13:55

I've grown sweet peas for a couple of years and have never been happy with the number of flowers. I suspect i just might not be sowing enough seeds. How many seeds would you sow to get good cover with lots of flowers for cutting per 6ft trellis?

Title: Sweet peas - how many?
Post by: noshed on February 18, 2008, 14:30

You have to pick them continuously to get a load of flowers I believe

Title: Sweet peas - how many?
Post by: Trillium on February 18, 2008, 15:25

Contrary to all planting instructions, I plant both sides of a trellis or support, about 1" apart. Sounds crowded, but my soil is well dug with loads of manure and can support a lot of growth.
As Noshed says, picking flowers very regularly keeps them flowering as sweet peas are desperate to set seed and will continue to flower until they can. I've had them flowering into mid August when I finally got tired of picking them and let them seed.

Title: Sweet peas - how many?
Post by: Aunt Sally on February 18, 2008, 15:39

I love sweet peas and have grown them for many years and like Trillium I plant them very close together.  I take the tops out of them when they are about 5 inches high to make them bush out more.  You must be VERY vigilant at removing all old flowers as soon as they begin to fade.  It doesn't take many pods to stop them flowering.  

I plant them at the ends of my runner bean rows too.  It encourages bees in to help pollinate your crop  :idea:

Title: Sweet peas - how many?
Post by: purplebean on February 18, 2008, 15:52

Thanks. I'm going to sow a lot more this year as I suspect that is the problem. They were on a trellis with climing french beans and were reasonably spaced out so I think I probably just didn't have enough plants to begin with.