germinating sweetpea seeds

Please can anyone help in a trusted method of germinating sweetpea seeds. I have had 48 brand new seed and followed the instuctions about soaking them ovenioght in hot water, the have put them into my promagator to germinate and have only 7 germinated which are now in the greenhouse. Should i have put them in a flask or was the water to hot or should i have planted them normally

thanks

 

I chit them on damp kitchen paper in a Tupperware box. As soon as a sprout appears I transfer them one-per-pot. I get close to 100% germination this way, but of those I would say that 10-15% never develop well enough to make good plants.

If your garden centre has pots-of-germinated-seedlings they may well wind up cheaper than buying seed, let alone attempting to grow them:

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/cheap-ish-sweet-21479.html?t=21479

 

I don't soak them in hot water just luke warm, that could have been the problem.
Then I sew three seeds into 3" pots, it seems to work for me mostly but this year didn't get 100% germination, sewing any seeds is a gamble but a challenge! will they won't they?!!

 

I collected my seeds last year from plants I'd bought on a dry day and left them to dry in the sun. This year I soaked overnight in water and have had a 70% germination record.

I've noticed sweetpeas seem to take forever before they sprout...to the extent you think they aren't going to appear at all, although they're faster indoors.

 

For me ( and I have never tried any other method). the best way is to sow the seeds on my birthday-the 18the of October, and to let the magical fingers of my daughter do the work, push them in up to my ( her) first knuckle and away they go.


Maybe it is my daughter that does it-but I have an alkmost 100% successful germination rate.


Other than that, I advocate patience.

 

Same here!...I just poke them in the soil were I want them to grow and then make sure there is a supply of organic slug pellets for the blighters to feast on...to date they are growing well and begining to clad my obelisk!:gnthb:

 

You sow the seeds on my birthday Nick-well I never knew that................

 

Hi chums. I found that if I just whack 'em in, they grow :D

 

T'is the true beauty of sweetpeas.