Topic: When plant out sweet pea seedlings?

[GrannieAnnie]

Having been overcome by the fiendish urge to plant seeds indoors too early (no lectures please ;D)
                                    AND
since most of the seeds germinated so well on the heating pad normally used for bad backs
                                   NOW
I'm going to be overloaded with seedlings indoors that need light. ::)
Of course I have no greenhouse.

Can I safely move sweetpea seedliings into a coldframe?  It is still dropping down into the +20s at night though I could blanket the coldframe. Lettuce has survived in the coldframe (though the winter has been mild here.) I've never successfully grown sweetpeas before.

[manicscousers]

our friend, Eric has been growing flowers for 35 years, he reckons sweet peas are okay in cold frames  :)
don't know about the freezing temps though  :)

[morton]

Ideally GrannieAnnie sweet peas are sown late in the year in a cold frame and left to overwinter outside without the cover on. You only cover them when you get days of continuous rain or days of continuuous hard frost when it does not get much above freezing during both the day and night. You get much stronger plants that way.
We have just had a week of really cold weather here and it is the first time my covers have been on since sowing and the sweet peas have made excellent growth again.
I do not know what it is like during the day where you are but the cold nights will not bother them if it warms up during the day. Obviously you would have to accustom the plants to the outside steadily.

[GrannieAnnie]

Thank you. Will try putting them out after hardening them a bit.  I take it that sweet peas are very different than the oriental pea pod type plants that one eats. Here the pea pod type plants would not survive the winter.

[manicscousers]

no, neither would our peas, I'm going to be planting some sweet peas into black buckets, leave them on the beds in the cold polytunnel and gradually put them outside in a sheltered place  ;D

[GrannieAnnie]

no, neither would our peas, I'm going to be planting some sweet peas into black buckets, leave them on the beds in the cold polytunnel and gradually put them outside in a sheltered place  ;D

Then in warmer weather do you unpot them into the ground?

[manicscousers]

we sell them like that at the plant sale, just transplanted 8 buckets, 3 bunches of 2 or 3 around the rim,canes next to them and tied in, we didn't have enough last year, they were fighting over them  :o
I've got enough for another 12 buckets  ;D

[debster]

i made a mistake when shopping today for the stepchildren to make planted containers for their mum and grandmums for mothers day and picked up a multi pack of seeds without reading them cos the flowers were pretty, they are sweet peas, i know you said manics that you grow them on in buckets, can they be left in pots for their complete life cycle cos i know they can get to 6 feet tall
cheers
debs

[manicscousers]

mine were okay last year, had to feed and dead head, but it was a wet year, don't know about normally
the year before, I planted them in with the runner beans in the plot, they all got grey mould  ;D

[debster]

well manics i will give it a go, do you want anymore seeds? i bought a multi pack of white ensign, air warden, noel sutton, mrs r bolton and beaujolais, andi will only want a few of each

[manicscousers]

thanks, debster, we got a fundraising pack of seeds, there were 3 packs of highly scented in there, I've grown them as well,so we should be okay.. my swapped ones from here, I'm keeping for myself  ;D

[Common_Clay]

What is the best thing to train sweet peas up? Manic, you said you grow them up canes, is that all? I've had such trouble with that... my only thought now is some close knit mesh or something. I tried growing them up string too, they didn't like that either.  :(

[morton]

you said you grow them up canes, is that all?

Although they have tendrils you do have to tie the plants to the canes. They tend to like to attach to each other but not to the canes.

[springbok]

some of mine are about 10" high and flopping over and already have a few tendrils, should I introduce a cane now in the pot?

[morton]

Have you cut them back yet? I keep them tidy by cutting them back to about 4 to 6 inches until planting out about the middle of March weather permitting. Remember though that mine have been outdoors for most of the winter.

[manicscousers]

mine are about 6" high, tied in to canes but inside still..3 canes to a bucket, tied at the top with a tennis ball on, go on, laugh but at least it stops me poking my eye out  ;D