Sweetpeas

Thanks @NigelJ I saw a young girl on an episode of garderners world last year cutting off the tendrils and tying in her sweet peas, is that necessary?

 

@mazambo I really don't know, possibly if growing for exhibition purposes you might want more control over them.

 

Here's a gardening related question from me - for a change....

Starting to panic a bit. I've planted out some sweet peas - their roots were poking out of the jiffy plugs - so they needed to get into the ground.

Problem is the cold snap about to hit us - do I need to cover the sweet peas to protect from frost?

I read that they are half hardy down to -5c - and last week Monty commented that they a more robust than people believe. We're going to be hit with -2c here on Sunday - should I be covering the sweet peas or am I being over cautious?

 

Mine have been outside since early Feb, just haven't got round to planting them and they are looking fine.
At this time of year it's not likely to be -2°C for very long. If you are worried putting a few sheets of news paper over the top of them, overnight, should keep them safe.

 

I understand this latest cold chill is coming from Greenland, who left the EU in 1985 so your plants should be safe

 

I live in the northwest, I’m debating wether I can plant my sweetpeas out ?, it’s forecast 100% rain tomorrow and Friday

 

Think I found the problem with my sweetpeas I found loads of these under the soil………….

 

@Fat Controller I can tell you this much, I have no idea now what works. Last year it took nearly a month for the seeds to germinate so I started some on the 7th of this month - incidentally I also started delphinium seeds the same day. I did not in any way stratify the sweet peas.

There are now several sweet peas sprouting. That's 6 days!

 

I wanted to start a discussion about sweetpeas. I have read that they can be sown directly into the soil. I have recently bought this trough,



It is primarily there to hide the rubbish behind. I was thinking of planting gladiolus bulbs in the middle and sewing sweetpeas up the trellis at the back and zinnia at the front. Would this work?

G.

 

I used to just knick the seed coat and soak for a couple of hours then sow at room temperature.

 

Sounds like a bit too much in that space Jack.

 

I placed my sweetpea seeds on damp kitchen towel on Jan 17th and left them overnight on the heat mat. I sowed them on the 18th in toilet roll inners filled with John Innes seed compost and placed them on a heat mat. By the 27th they had sprouted.
On February 7th I took them off the heat mat and yesterday I put them out in the cold frame.

 

On the subject of Sweet Peas. Am I correct in thinking that they cannot be grown in the same spot for two consecutive years?

 

I start mine off on damp kitchen towel, in a takeaway tub or ziplock bag, in a warm spot. Check every couple of days and then when they show signs of growing I carefully plant them out in the greenhouse. When they are 6 to 9in high I pinch out the tips to make them bush out. Mine have been hardened off and sat outside since mid January mainly to slow them down a bit.

I don't know for sure, but probably a good idea to move them around a bit.

Yes you can sow directly into the ground I have done in the past. I would wait until about the time you would sow garden peas so mid March/April and then sow them two or three to a spot, you can thin them later if needed.