Topic: Sugar Lord mangetout

[goodlife]

Bit over year ago somebody here was asking if anybody have any Sugar Lord pea seed.  That variety has not been on sale for sometime anymore and I set out for searching these seeds as they were praised by the original enquirer.
Well...look what I have 'found'..
Packet of about 100 seeds arrived this morning...use by date 12/2000
Some kind soul kindly sent these for me....shall I start taking bets of how many out of 100 will still be viable?

[goodlife]

This was the original enquiry post..
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,71090.msg726341.html#msg726341

..not snap pea after all but mangetout!

[galina]

Bit over year ago somebody here was asking if anybody have any Sugar Lord pea seed.  That variety has not been on sale for sometime anymore and I set out for searching these seeds as they were praised by the original enquirer.
Well...look what I have 'found'..
Packet of about 100 seeds arrived this morning...use by date 12/2000
Some kind soul kindly sent these for me....shall I start taking bets of how many out of 100 will still be viable?

If they have been stored in the freezer, germination might be very good.  However:  if they are round seeded peas, they could well give some germination after ten years, if they haven't been stored badly.  After  13 years?  Good luck!

If they are wrinkle seeded ones, very few and probably none at all will have survived.

Still, nothing lost in trying to revive them.  An overnight soak in a weak fertiliser solution might improve their chances.  Others swear by soaking in camomile tea.  After soaking I would place them on top of compost and press slightly so the seeds are still visible, rather than push into compost.

Very best of luck!!!

ps - as you have referred to the old posts - there was this one too:
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=62804.0
Unfortunately I have no seed or I would have put them in the seed circle - over to you ...............  (we need a fingers crossed smiley)

[pumkinlover]

Good luck!!
Such a weight of responsibilty on such young shoulders.
Will or will not Sugar Lord mangetout be saved from obscurity, only time will tell
All digits crossed!

[goodlife]

Oh dear..yes..they are wrinkly sort. They has little soak and are now planted in modules in GH...and yes, shallow planted..I need to be able to see what is happening
Fingers and toes crossed that all goes well and at least one little pea will have some energy left to germinate and grow.
Don't know about young shoulders but they are willing and hopefully able to carry a load of peas

[realfood]

  Sugar Lord is a true snap pea with thick, sweet, fleshy pods. I have a few germinating as I speak. Have just been to check and already 50% germination after a couple of days, and I expect this to incease. The seed was kept in the original packet in a back bedroom.

[goodlife]

I'm only going by the seed packet that says they are 'mangetout'?! Marhalls made a misprint? It says they grow 5ft tall..is that what yours do?
I there any chance that you would be able to save few seed from your crop for possible future swap? There is none of those seeds available commercially or through growers...you must be one of very few...lucky you..

[galina]

I'm only going by the seed packet that says they are 'mangetout'?! Marhalls made a misprint? It says they grow 5ft tall..is that what yours do?
I there any chance that you would be able to save few seed from your crop for possible future swap? There is none of those seeds available commercially or through growers...you must be one of very few...lucky you..

Not a misprint as such - mangetout simply means eat all, as you of course know.  This is to distinguish them from shelling peas with the hard woody bits in the pea pod.  Whether they are flat edible podded or - like in the case of Sugar Lord - thick walled edible podded (snap pea), they are still both the type where you 'eat all' - mangetout.

[realfood]

Yes, they grow at least 5 ft tall. Last year being wet, they grew to over 7 ft. This is why I think that they were not continued, as most peas nowadays are short. Still think that it is the best tasting snap pea, as all the shorter snap or mangetout peas that I have tried are not as good.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Have you tried Kent Blue? It's the sweetest I grow, and quite short by my standards, about 3-4 feet. I haven't tried Sugar Lord.

[goodlife]

OHHHHHH,,,guess what is poking through the compost?!!!!
2 green 'bits' so far
I had a little 'dig' other day and could find at least 10 peas that had first little root poking through
Who would have though that after all these years some would still germinate..

[grannyjanny]

I'm not surprised, super green fingers. Well done & I look forward to the results of your taste test .

[galina]

Well - I second that 'with bells on'.  Excellent news!    So well done you!   

Definitely looking forward to taste reports and if you have lots, a few seeds at the end of the season. (pretty please).

[goodlife]

Definitely looking forward to taste reports and if you have lots, a few seeds at the end of the season. (pretty please).

You can start planning where in your plot to put some Sugar Lord seeds to grow next year...

[galina]

 

[goodlife]

They are all up now! Those that didn't germinate I have got rid of and now I have 11 pea shoots out of 102 seed
I was hoping 1 or 2..IF I'M LUCKY...but 11! Now I'm going to push my luck...if those 11 do well..hopefully there is enough to share with seed circle..and with GJ For now on they will the most looked after little peas in the world

[grannyjanny]

Gosh I do feel honoured to be included . Thank you so much. I'll keep everything crossed for the little shoots. Well done .

[galina]

11 that's excellent - a good number.  Wish you the best of luck with them.

[goodlife]

I just had to dig out this old post....because there has been some more 'development'..
to start with...Galina and I, we've grown this variety and the results will be shared in current seed saving circle's parcel..

BUT...I was just doing some window shopping and I came across this in Finnish seed company's site.. http://www.exoticgarden.fi/webshop.php?showshopcat=10&menu_showcat=2&page=3

Sugar Lord must be making its come back....

[galina]

Good grief!  Yes it is Sugar Lord.  After all those years!  Super snap peas.  Glad in a way the variety wasn't lost entirely, because it was touch and go whether you would be able to still germinate these ancient seeds, but you managed it goodlife    From now on there should be enough seed savers and growers to keep these in circulation in the UK (fingers crossed).

Lovely peas.