sweet peas

hi , my name is tony today is my birthday I,m 49 I am new to gardening ( and computers ) I live near the peak district in derbyshire. Not far from Hardwick H all , and Chatsworth.My gardening question is , how do I stop my sweet peas from germinating to fast? I read an article in a gardening mag. which said that if I sowed my sweet pea seeds in October , 7 to a 5" pot and put them in a cold frame they would germinate and I would get flowers earlier than I would if I planted them straight in the ground later.They have germinated but they are about 3" high and have leaves on . What should I do now ? Also I have repotted a young wisteria and put it in the cold greenhouse but it has lost all it's leaves is this normal.I am sorry that my only contribution to the forum is questions but I am a complete novice at gardening but hopefully this will change with your help.I look forward to hearing from someone and thank you.

 

Happy Birthday, Tony!
Nip out the tips of them, leaving one set of leaves, and do that every time new ones form. Mine are the same!

 

Just noticed the wisteria bit - sorry! They are deciduous, so yes,, they do lose their leaves, and look rather dead - don't worry, it probably isn't!
:D

 

Hi Tony and welcome - happy birthday. Don't be shy about questions - thats the backbone of this forum.

I have no answers, but am interested in Dendros answer, as for the first time as an experiment I am also growing some annuals and biennials, which were sown in this autumn.

I have just build myself a cold frame to keep the young plants in. I went to the local tip and got a large piece of glass for nothing. I initially put it on bricks, but didn't really have enough so I made a simple wooden frame for it.

 

I germinate Sweet Peas to overwinter (I usually sow in September) but I have never pinched them out. As long as I deadhead regularly I get a good show of flowers from them. I am not questioning dendrobium's advice by any means and I would be interested to know what advantages nipping out the growing point has on the plants.

 

Hi Tony and welcome to GC from a former resident of the Chesterfield area (Eckington to be precise). I'm afarid I know nothing about sweetpeas (or wisteria) but I would be interested to know a variety of strong smelling sweet peas that I could try next year.

 

There are lost of them, Celia! Why don't you go for a mixed pack of scented ones? I've seen loads of variations on that theme, but here's one example..

http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/product/2366/2

I've seen collections even in the cheap shops, like Wilko, and in B+Q - and no, I'don't work for any of them!!

 

Nipping out encourages bushing out, and a stronger root system, Jack by the hedge!
This is taken from the culture notes in the factsheet about sweetpeas provided by T+M again -

"Cover the pots or tubes with a sheet of glass or place in an unheated propagator and keep the mat about 13-19C (55-65F) until the seeds germinate. As soon as the seedlings start to appear (approximately 10 - 20 days) move them to a well ventilated cold frame. When the first or second pair of leaves has opened, pinch out the growing tip to encourage stronger new growth to develop. Pot the young plants on when they are about 5cm (2in) tall into individual pots or plant outside when the soil starts to warm up in the spring. Remove any small or weak seedlings."

I'm sure the other seed companies provide similar fact-sheets, but T+M are always worth checking out.

 

Thanks for that dendrobium.
Because sweet peas grow tall naturally I've never thought of them as a "bushy" plant.
I've got about a dozen growing now so might do a test on half of them to see if it makes much of a difference.
Perhaps it might be worthwhile to point out to anybody beginning with sweet peas that all parts of this plant are poisonous.

 

Sounds an interesting experiment, JbtH! I know lots of people who grow sweet peas, and don't bother, and have perfectly ok plants, but they are supposed to be stronger and healthier if you do nip out the tips. Do let us know how it goes!

 

Just potted up my Sweet Peas today in a hanging basket, first time for that!

They do better here in the Spring than the Summer so I have to do them early.

Thanks for that tip, Dendro, about pinching them out as they start ... hopefully I'll have some nice pics in a couple of months to show!