Sweet peas burnt leaf edges

London_gardener · May 2019

Hi everyone, can someone please help identify what's going on with my sweet peas? The edges of some of the leaves are turning brown and the tendrils are also turning a dark brown or purple while losing their clinginess.

I must admit that I have planted quite a lot of plants in the 32cm pot as I wanted a big display) but I have put in an adequate number of feeding pellets hoping that the plants get the nutrition they need.

The problem only occurred recently, a week ago. I water the pot maybe every 2nd or 3rd day, depending on how hot the weather is and also after sticking my finger in the soil to test it.

Thank you in advance!

Fairygirl · May 2019

Far too many plants for a pot that size. They'll struggle to get enough water/nutrition which they need a lot of. There won;t be enough soil/compost to sustain them.

6 to 8 plants would be the most you could successfully have for that size of pot.

London_gardener · May 2019

Thanks Fairygirl.

So now what do I do in order to salvage my efforts and time I have spent? Shall I pinch off a third of the plants from the base? I hate destroying plants and would always avoid this but can't see a way out now. The roots would be embedded/tangled into each other too much for me to risk doing any digging and separating.

Any advice is appreciated.

Fairygirl · May 2019

I'd take some out at the base. That should leave the rest with a better chance of thriving

It's a pity, but overcrowding doesn't do them any favours. Apart from the water/food proble, they lack good airflow around them too.
You can get away with putting lots in the ground, but it's not advisable in pots where there's a limited supply of nutrition. I usually do about 9 in a fifteen inch pot, and that's plenty.

Sweet peas burnt leaf edges

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