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No sweet pea pods!

melanie 568melanie 568 Posts: 57
in Plants
Morning gardeners,

My mum has had sweet peas in the same place for the last 14 years, taking the pods to plant next year, and the original seeds coming from her mum's plants.

But this year there are no pods, just shrivelled flowers and there is one single bud remaining! What might cause this to happen and is there anything she can do to create new plants from this now for next year?


Posts

  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    I've never had any luck from saved seeds from sweet peas I buy new every year.( Apart from the Perennial ones)
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If you don't have flowers developing, you don't have pods.
    They need large amounts of food and water to grow well, and a rich growing medium to start off with. If they're in the ground, it needs a lot of good compost added, or preferably a layer of rotted manure before planting into it. 
    Those don't look terribly healthy. Looks like a bit of mildew on some of the foliage which is often a sign of poor airflow and lack of moisture. 
    I never keep pods, as I deadhead every other day to keep a longer season of flowering.  I buy from reputable suppliers each year to ensure good quality seed. There's no reason why your mum can't do that  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Yes as fairy says peas and sweet ones a lot of mulch manure for them to succeed
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    As the seedline is of significant importance, the best I can suggest is to pamper those plants as much as possible in the hope of new buds. 
    I moved the planting site of my sweet peas this year and was impressed by how much better they grew in the new position, even though I didn't think the soil there was particularly good. Pests and diseases can accumulate in the soil and that may be one reason for the poor showing of your mum's sweet peas.
    Another possibility is watering. The foliage looks rather thin and unhealthy and that could be down to lack of water, given how hot and dry it has been at various times this growing season. If she is able to substantially increase the watering there may be some improvement and then she could add some tomato feed to encourage flowering.There is still plenty of time, my plants are only part way up their supports and not into full flowering yet and we can only hope for a mild September to allow flowering to continue into autumn. :)
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    There's certainly a lot of plants close together there and it also means any rain doesn't penetrate well. Sometimes people forget that and think that if it's raining for  reasonable length of time, the plants won't need watered. I still have to check mine [mostly in pots] even when we have our usual rain, because it doesn't always get through the foliage :)
    As @Buttercupdays says - as the plants are significant for your mum, giving them a bit more help now should get a better result. It might even be worth removing any plants that are really struggling, and then adding a good layer of compost around the others, as well as extra food and water. I often add a bit of compost to mine for that reason  :)

    I can keep plants flowering well into October and it's only the rough wild weather that does for them. I give them some extra feeding from about August onwards [tomato food] as the food they have in the pots will have been used up by then.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Feed and water and use a different site next year.
  • melanie 568melanie 568 Posts: 57
    Great, thank you everyone. I will pass that on and let you know what happens!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Hopefully, some will come away @melanie 568 and she'll get some flowers, and more importantly - the seed pods  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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