Top Tips for Sowing Sweet Peas
Sweet Peas are the staple of any British garden and make beautiful cut flowers. They are easy to grow but in order to ensure great flowers with long stems and a good vase life, there are some essential things to know.
- When to Grow – to get a head start and ensure early flowering from mid May, it is best to sow the seeds in October or January/February. In the South with better light levels, you can start growing in October when there is still some warmth to aid germination. One of the advantages of Sweet Peas is that they are classed as hardy and can withstand sub zero temperatures. If the seedlings have more heat than they need, they will be come leggy. Sowing in January/Early February removes the need to care for the seedlings over winter and will still ensure flowers by the end of May. You will need to aid germination by creating warmth of about 15 degrees, but once germination has occurred you can put the seeds outside. For a later crop of flowers, sow directly into the soil after February. The downside of sowing your sweet peas later in the year is that you don’t get such long stems.
- To soak or not to soak? Some do and some don’t. The benefit of soaking the sweet pea seed pods prior to sowing is that it softens the tough outer shell and speeds up germination but it is essential not to leave them for more than 8 hours as it might lead to the seeds rotting.
- Use deep pots and not seed trays. Sweet peas develop strong root growth. They are legumes so their roots fix nitrogen and it is important that they don’t become tangled. Root trainers are best to ensure minimum disturbance when transplanting.
- Pinching Out. Once the plant has developed, cut the central growing stem. This promotes low basal growth and ultimately a much stronger, beefier plant.
- Support. Sweet Peas need support to ensure good stem length and you can use line trellising or tripods. They will need tying in regularly otherwise the stems will break and become crooked.
- Aftercare. They need full sun and are also very thirsty plants. It is helpful to feed them regularly with micro nutrients and potassium to encourage flowering. They don’t need extra nitrogen as they are nitrogen fixers so avoid excess use of animal manure.
- Cutting. The more you cut, the more flowers they produce. If you allow them to set seed, they will stop flowering.
