Topic: Sweet Peas.....I Give Up!!!!!

[ipt8]

They can take a while to germinate sometimes. Are they bought seed? Sometimes home collected are not so good. We had some home collected perenial sweet peas that had a very poor germination an dtook ages.
Another thought. Have mice taken them? or perhaps you kept them too wet and they rotted.
Good luck.  ;)

[Busby]

You're not alone. Ask me about my successes with everything else, particularly with brussel sprouts, tomatoes, peas, beans, zuchetti... but don't ask me about sweet peas because if you do I'll be forced to tell you that I have never had even one that wasn't dismally stringy, straggly and looked like it was on its last gasp. My neighbour has plants that grow into a thick bushy-looking head and are covered in blooms - but he can't grow tomatoes!

[star]

Well Busby, you cant eat sweet peas..........carry on with the toms :D ;).......they are tasty :)

[GrannieAnnie]

the ones  planted in the Fall rotted in the cold- got zero.
the ones planted indoors in loo rolls and in a big coffee can all germinated. for safety I hedged my bets and moved some to a coldframe and some out in the open ground which I cover at night, some open ground with the snowpeas and no cover at night and some are under an open mouthed plastic soda bottle in the garden.  All are doing well even though we've had some -5 C / 22 F nights.  Now how they'll do flowering may be a different thing altogether! And I'm sure they aren't bushy like some have described theirs are but at least they aren't dead (yet).

[cambourne7]

Mine have not done anything yet so i picked some up in homebase theres about 8 plants in the pot for 99p. I am going to pot them on so i dont have to teese the roots out in the next 2 weeks when i plant them out.

[Vortex]

Somebody asked in an earlier post "what the earliest they can go out", that really depends on where you are in the country, since they're not frost hardy. I've now got mine in the coldframe, where they've been for the last week. another week and provided the forecast looks ok I'll put them out next weekend, but I'm in the central south so we're now quite close to the last frost date.

[Sparkly]

Last year we ended up with only 1 plant, so I topped this up with some from B&Q. This year I planted ours on 15th feb direct into multipurpose compost in loos rolls. They have been kept in a coldframe. The germination has been pretty good. Not 100%, but good. These were saved seeds from last year's B&Q and a variety called 'sweet king blue' from thompson and morgan. They are probably only 2-3 inches high at the moment, but fingers crossed, they are looking healthy!

[KittyKatt]

I can totally sympathise. I have tried seed from several different companies and it always seems to be the luck of the draw. Last year I ended up with a few straggly specimens at planting out time and I planted the seeds I had left over direct in the soil. These did a lot better and I ended up with a good display even if it was a bit later than some other people's! I think the knack is to sow a lot more than you think you are going to need. After all, if they do all germinate you can always given them away!
KK

[sims girl]

l thought l would try sweet peas this year so l planted seven and only two came up so l think l will go buy some more and see what will happen

for all of you out there that feel they just want to give up with them just think how lovely they will look when they bloom

[Garden Manager]

Traditionaly I sow in spring, in 'root trainers' (long modules), soaking the seed first then placed in an unheated greenhouse. I had mixed sucess. some grew but many didnt and last year had to buy a few plants to make up numbers.

Then last autumn I had a go at autumn sowing. Instead of soaking them I just popped them in pots (4 per pot) watered them well and put them in a 'mini' greenhouse which was open most of the time. Whilst some failed more germinated than didn't and have overwintered well . However I still needed more plants so have sown more (today in fact -see date) Whilst I have returned to root trainers I have not chipped ot soaked the seed and have sown 3 or 4 seed per module. I reckon if only one seed per module grows then I will have a decent amount of plants.

I think sometimes if you soak the seed and then water well there is a tendency for the seed to rot off. I think that as long as you keep the compost well watered the seed will absorb enough water naturaly. Chipping might help speed things up but isnt essential.

Hope this helps.

[Emagggie]

Last year I tried rubbing the seeds in a folded piece of fine sandpaper instead of chipping them, they germinated well but I didn't bother this year and they still germinated ok.

[star]

I have had a good germination rate as well, very happy :D

[sims girl]

 l planted my seeds at the end of march l put 7 in the pot and two have come up and a third has started l started them in the house l am hoping that the others will come though but if they do not them l will go and buy some more

[Emagggie]

Is that a ratty I see Sims girl? Great pets. ;)
As for sweet peas, it seems to help if they go out to a cold frame or cold g house as soon as they germinate, they grow slower and make better plants.(less leggy)

[SMP1704]

I soak mine overnight, starting off with warmish to hot water.  I sowed some in February in the mini greenhouse by the house, have hardened them off this week and planted out today.  Had about 80% germination.

I did the same treatment with some saved seeds, but forgot about them, so they sat in the water for a week :-[ by the time I got back to them there was mould growing over the top of the water.  I thought they were rotted but sowed them anyway and as the weather had turned cold popped a propagator lid over the tray.  After the sunshine this week, they are starting to show through :D

Have you tried pre-chitting them?  Soak in water then place on damp paper in a plastic container, leave somewhere warm in the kitchen and check every few days, when the shoot appears transfer to pots.

Good luck

[springbok]

I got a free packet off a magazine and just sowed them.  First time I had every sowed anything.

Didnt soak them, just put them in peat pots.  The whole packet germinated, but I lost a load when the winds took the plastic greenhouse.

One tip that was given to me was not to put them into deep.  I made a measure with a ice cream stick... to make sure they were at the right depth.

So far I have 10 healthy bushy plants... just hope i can get them through the hardening off stage :D

[jo9919]

Well, I don't feel half so bad now. It does seem that Sweet Peas aren't all that easy to grow after all.

I sowed some more yesterday. I have taken advice from your posts and sowed 3 seeds to a pot.

I am wondering if the problem lies with me watering from the top and the seeds rotting, so I am trying watering from the bottom with the ones which I sowed yesterday. I will let you know how I get on.

Jo.

[SMP1704]

Jo - once the seeds are in the compost - water that before you sow, I don't water at all until the shoots are through and usually by that time the compost has dried out a bit.

[Jeannine]

I have never been able to get a sweet pea to germinate let alone grow and I have tried very hard.

Two or three weeks ago when I was sorting out my seed stash I found three or four part packets of sweet peas, I was going to chuck em out but instead I filled as seed tray with soil, chucked them all in and covered it, left in the bathroom. Would you believe the tray is full of shoots!!!

What comes next I wonder...well I got them to germinate LOL

XX Jeannine

[Toadspawn]

Sweet peas are very hardy. They should not be molly-coddled.
I have always sown mine in the second week of October. The pots are kept in the GH until the seedlings are approx half an inch high and then they are put into the coldframe. The pots are embedded in used growbag compost to give the roots a bit of extra protection. The plants have never been covered and have been exposed to cold and rain. The only time I might think of covering would be if prolonged heavy snow was forecast or if the temperature was below zero for several days continuously. My sweet peas were planted into the garden two weeks ago and are fine. The tops are pinched out to encourage branching.
I worked at Unwins about 20 years ago as the sweet pea breeder and hundreds of pots of different varieties/breeding lines were sown in October each year. They were not given any special pre sowing treatment and spent all winter in the cold frames before being planted into the trial ground.