Topic: sweetpeas

[mr plasma]

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Prop/Jan.htm    according to this site sweetpeas should be sown now. Is this correct or too early?

[angle shades]

:)

it's correct!  / shades x

[manicscousers]

don't know, i planted mine in the autumn, expecting cooler weather, huh, they've been nipped back about three times, I'm wondering if they'll get fed up and stop growing new tips!

[saddad]

unlikely manics!
 ;D

[mc55]

aaargh, another job for the weekend - can I direct sow, or do they need to be inside ?

[kt.]

The earliest peas can wait until February if you like. Should be ready in may/june. depending on where you live. You can sow early under cloches.

For peas june/july, plant 2nd earlies mid-march to mid-april

For autumn peas make a last sowing ni july with fast growing early round types with mildew resistance

[Toadspawn]

Sweet peas can be sown a number of different times.
If you want early flowers for the house and/or for showing they need to be sown approx. mid October in pots, cardboard tubes, root trainers and the seedlings are then overwintered in the coldframe as they are very hardy. They need to grow slowly and produce strong plants for transplanting into flowering posotion approx mid March. Because it is so mild they are growing like fury and need pinching out to encourage side shoots and hopefully slow down growth. Roll on some hard frosts.
Alternatively they can be sown in February in pots in the GH and then planted out in Mid March when they have been hardened off.
Or they can be sown where they are to flower in April/May.
In all cases pinching out the tips encourages branching and they need to be provided with supports to climb.   

[Georgie]

Toadspawn, I agree with all that and I wish I had the patience to reply in such a comprehensive way.  May I ask a couple  questions?  Do you advocate soaking seeds or chipping?  And do you have any tips for avoiding powdery mildew?  The latter is the bain of my life with sweetpeas.

G x

[wahaj]

i soaked mine georgie when i sowed them outside in october. every single one germinated. i'm always worried about nicking seeds because a lot of them time i've just cut them in half lol.

i germinated about 20 in october and will be sowing some indoors tommorow.

apparently you should sow them in the autumn....as autumn sown plants are less likely to be affected by blackfly?

[Larkspur]

wahaj,I've known sweet peas suffer fom mildew and greenfly (just about every year) but blackfly ??? never seen one on a sweet pea plant. Where did you hear that?

[angle shades]

:)

planted one lot in October ,eaten by snails twice but now growing well.

planted two lots today, always in toilet rolls, never chip or soak.

last year was the first year i grew them October and January and planted out up wigwams in April, then worried they would die ::),best sweetpeas I've ever grown, flowered until November :o :o

no mildew or greenfly ( a first for me) was it the weather, longer growing season or variety which made them flower so long and so well I don't know /shades x

[Larkspur]

Hi shades. I'm glad yours did well last year. I had a realy indifferent year which I also put down to the weather ::). Used good quality seed of all named varieties, Airwarden, Noel Sutton etc but the plants never gave as freely as they can with their flowers and were over early. I had prepared the ground well and they were kept watered so I was realy quite miffed. I had put it down to the weather but now you've blown that excuse :( :D ;D.

[angle shades]

sorry ;D :P

varieties i grew where

gypsy queen- ruby red,perfumed and strong stemmed

dawn- blue/mauve,perfumed,exhibition

hunters moon- cream,scented

good luck this year/shades x

[laurieuk]

There are so many ways of doing the same thing, I have grown for showing for many years and sow on 8th October, ten seeds to a 5 inch pot, I only chip very dark seeds and single out to single pots as soon as they are big enough to handle. I allow them to break on there own and plant out early March. This year I am doing a late sowing in late Feb. as we want flowers for a wedding in August.I grow as cordons on 8 ft canes layering them when they get about five feet.

[wahaj]

wahaj,I've known sweet peas suffer fom mildew and greenfly (just about every year) but blackfly ??? never seen one on a sweet pea plant. Where did you hear that?

i saw a gardening program on tv this year....i no longer have any idea what it was lol. but it was this man who grew sweet peas for a living and entered loads of shows and it's what his dad did aswell. and he said that black fly were a problem on sweet peas.

now i've never grown them before so i've no idea whether or not it's true.....but the ones i put in in october seem fine and i've just sown some today aswell.

[Larkspur]

wahaj, I think you have remembered what was said incorrectly :). Sweet peas can be affected by pollen beetles (a very small black beetle) which damages the flowers and for which there is no treatment. It is a comparitively recent pest of sweet peas and has become more common as oil seed rape has become more widely grown, that being it's normal host. Of course I might be wrong......... ;) :D

[Wicker]

One way of chitting I use is to pack the lid of a large coffee jar with a pad of wet kitchen roll, place seeds on then srew jar back on (upside down of course).  That way I can see exactly which  germinate (usually they all do) and I can then transfer to pots or plant in ground depending on dates.  Has worked a treat for me for many years.

[windygale]

hi all , i grow a few in october/november, all i done was to place two pieces of sand paper in a seed tray, place seed into tray and rub some of the shiny surface from sweetpeas, this helps water to enter the outer case of the seed making it swell, and grow, them placed the seed into moist compost and pots, i then placed the pots into a coldframe, this is the results
windy ::)

[laurieuk]

I think there may be a mix up between pollen beetle and black fly. I first started growing sweet peas when I was a gardenboy back in the 40's and have never seen blackfly on them but we do get a lot of pollen beetle that fill the centre sack but judges ignore it as they do when the beetle is in the daffodil blooms. We do not get very moch self pollenated daffodils now as the pollen beetle eats most of the pollen from the yellow blooms.

[Emagggie]

huh, they've been nipped back about three times, I'm wondering if they'll get fed up and stop growing new tips!

Mine too, manics. The ones you sent are going great guns too.