Sweet Peas

[Jesse]

My sweet pea seedlings look like they could do with planting out. Is it okay to do that now and protect with fleece or should I be waiting a little longer?

[Jesse]

[loz]

Hi Jesseveve

Were they autumn sown and have you grown them in a cold frame? 

If they have been grown on on heat, try to get them out into a cold frame to harden off before planting out, normally in about March depending on the weather. Keep the lid off in the day (unless severe cold if forecast) and closed at night.  It is the wet and cold which will harm the young plants.

If you have sown in the autumn, the plants should develop side shoots on their own.  Spring sown plants will need to be pinched after the second pair of leaves have opened.

Basically if you plant out now, you may have problems with the cold wet soil.  I would wait until March.  If you absolutely must, then protection with fleece would help.

Loz

[aquilegia]

Jesse - is it a problem with pot space? Might it be worth potting them up?

I started mine in the autumn in loo rolls and the roots have gone mad. I'm going to pot them up rather than plant them out now.

[Jesse]

They were germinated in early January, indoors and for the past couple of weeks have been left outside during the day and live indoors at night in a conversatory (which is cold at night). They can spend a few more weeks in their pots (newspaper loo roll pots) as they are not badly root bound or anything like that but they are getting quite tall (about 10-15cm now), they are also bushy as I have pinched the growing points.

I will wait until March to plant out but we do still get frosts during March, should I be protecting them with fleece at this point or are they hardy to a frost.

[loz]

hi Jesseveve

Providing the plants have been hardened off, the worst that a frost will do is singe the leaves or hold up the plants' growth.

If you fleece them, you will maintain the growth, getting earlier and more prolonged flowering.  Ideal if you want to show them, even better if you just want their scent and colour.

Loz