Sweet pea flowers

[ber77tie]

When my sweet peas first flowered they had nice long stems.gradually the stems have got shorter and are  now only about 3-4inches long.any ideas what may cause this and how can I improve the length?

[ber77tie]

[laurieuk]

Without knowing how you are growing your sweet peas it is difficult to reply, but have you made sure all old flowers have been removed, are you cutting as soon as the flowers are out. Are your plants short of water or food. Sorry to be so vague but there are so many things that affect the blooming. Mine usually do not start having shorter stems until I have layered them which I did last week.

[ber77tie]

I am picking every day and think I'm giving enough water.i have also removed some tendrils as I thought this would help.have yours been flowering and why are you layering please?

[laurieuk]

Mine usually start to flower around Chelsea flower show time  25th May but this year are much later as we lost our garden greenhouse etc. we were in a tied cottage. I layer because I grow on canes and when they get out of reach I layer to get a longer flowering season. I sow my seed on 8th October to get a good root system.