Planting sweet peas now

In the UK in Bucks I always did mine this time of year so I had the flowers early and I certainly do them here now because they don't bloom in the summer due to the heat so I have a lovely display in the Spring. I do the black and purple ones, quite stunning!

 

Do you plant them in situ or in seed trays first?

 

Hi Claire
On the Allottments4all web site they swear by them for all sorts of things and they grow edible produce in them, they have discussions on what it is but the general idea is ignore it. :wink:

 

In Situ, I don't have a lot of patience faffing about with seedlings and I have found that this laid back lazy approach usually works...

 

I like your thinking :D

 

Update on the "plastic-bag" pots I got from Eagle as per my post earlier in this thread

They are a bit of a pain to fill - not being rigid you can't just scoop up some compost like a normal pot. I started off with a cone of cardboard, but the posts still needed quite a bit of jiggling to get the soil down into them. My second approach was to find a plastic pot that was a snug fit, and I cut the bottom out off it and used it as a funnel. That seemed to work better in the sense that I could jiggle the soil down better.

I also don't think I filled the pots full enough. They do need a space at the top to water the plants, but given that they whole point is that they are tall, because sweet pea roots go "straight down", I think only leaving a small amount of space at the top for watering will do. More soil for the plants, and during the winter they aren't going to need much watering anyway.

Either way, I think I will look for some rigid plastic "deep" pots for next year. Anyone know of a source for some? I reckon 6-7cm diameter and 10-11cm deep. I would also be able to use my pot-carriers with them, whereas the plastic-bag type have to be carried on a tray, or only 3 or 4 at a time, per hand :(

I pre-germinated the seeds in ramekins with kitchen paper, and then planted them, but no sign yet (3 or 4 days later). I hope the mice haven't eaten them, I forgot to set any traps in the greenhouse :(

 

Hi Kristen
Just a thought on reading your thread if you are looking for rigid pots ,how much is cheap tubing in the diameter you require cut to your own length .any general hardware store stocks it
:thmb:

 

Good point. I'd prefer the pots had "bottoms", but its not that important.