Roger Parsons is the sweet pea master @celcius_kkw and has some useful info and you tube videos. Well worth a look. I was surprised that he says not to pinch autumn sown ones because it encourages new top growth when you want the focus on the root system. Apparently they'll then shoot more from the base when the time is right if they've been 'grown hard' . Seems counterintuitive and I haven't tried it yet but will be giving it a go this year.
@Nanny Beach it was the worst spring I can remember for that too. Near-full grown tomato plants going to bed in the kitchen 😂 They'd been up in the greenhouse for a month the same time the year before.
Charlotte,we even had them in the bedroom window sills, drove me nuts. Our nosy guard dog border collie, knocked a seed tray off our bedroom window sill,newly watered. Pale grey carpet.!!
Charlotte,we even had them in the bedroom window sills, drove me nuts. Our nosy guard dog border collie, knocked a seed tray off our bedroom window sill,newly watered. Pale grey carpet.!!
Noooooo! Just glad I don't have carpets, I'm as clumsy as your collie and had to sweep up the kitchen several times before we could evict.
We don't have carpet anymore, laminate,only carpet is in the spare bedroom. That was because (if eating look away now!) She chucked up in the middle of the night,that did it! The dogs not clumsy,she's nosy, bungalow, paws on sill looking out.
Carpet is overrated...?!? We only have it on the stairs, which is, of course, where the cats are always sick. I was perhaps foolishly thinking that sowing now might alleviate the 'my house is actually a greenhouse' situation (A quarter of the sitting room floor, kitchen window sill, spare bedroom under grow lights, bedroom window sill, big shelf in lean to...) when waiting for the frosts to end, and then having a zillion plants to plant out. However there is a danger I will get over-enthusiastic and do the same next year anyway. (Sow far too many.) I also need to be more disciplined and not so timid about hardening hardy plants off in cold frames and, now, the greenhouse. It would probably do me good to make a few mistakes and learning from them rather than erring on the cosseting side. I did a lot of sweet pea research last year but will go back to it again. I remember seeing one article suggesting that it's fine if your sweet peas actually freeze, as long as you let them defrost slowly. I am determined to nail sweet peas. Two years running, they have succumbed to mildew after just 4-6 weeks. I fear, though, the answer is more to grow them in the ground (I don't have much ground to put them in) or at least put far fewer in pots as much as anything else. Again discipline (and faith in what I have read) is going to be key.
Don't plant them in really sunny sites either @REMF33. Most of them grow perfectly well in some shade. Even here, where we don't get the long, hot dry spells that southern areas get [apart from this year!] it can affect them. I grow a lot of mine in north west facing spots, where they only get a bit of morning sun, and some later in the day. They key to having healthy s. pea plants is - don't use heat when germinating them. Don't cosset them - even when undercover. Pinch them out if they get too big - if they haven't been cossetted, they'll have good root systems, as opposed to the weak, leggy ones which don't . Plant out when your conditions are suitable. Lots of food and water. Ideally- well rotted manure at the base of pots or planting areas, with good compost on top, plus whatever food you like to use
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I usually have them on my patio/terrace so some are I suppose south east and others south west facing. I could grow some amongst my fruit bushes as one motivation for growing is to pick them. They are south west facing, but there are trees down there. (No, not ideal for fruit bushes, but one does what one can where one can...) I do feed and water the sweet peas (but probably don't feed as much as I should. Ditto all my plants...) This year they had some biodegradable water retaining granules and slow release fertilizer, as well as being fed periodically later on. I did use decent compost. They seemed to be very healthy plants initially, far better than the previous year with longer stems. They were started off in a heated propagator but taken out as soon as they germinated,, and grown on under grow lights down the side of the house in a covered, but unheated area. (Although grow lights do give out quite a bit of heat, I suppose.) I had some spares that I bunged into a border rather than waste, which lasted for months. They were at the back of the border (so not ideal, or indeed very visible) but even so did well, hence me thinking in the ground might be better, but that would involve giving over more space than I would perhaps like. (Mind you given how much space my Cosmos ended up hogging this year...) Anyway this year I will grow them in the greenhouse. There will be plenty of light in there so no need for grow lights.
It's a common mistake with them @REMF33 - too much heat and too much tlc They're very tough. I have to be careful where I put them in the ground because they can disappear overnight due to slugs. Most of mine are in pots, but some are in one of the raised beds. I've still got two groups of them flowering away in there. Beaujolais [a very reliable dark variety] and Windsor, a nice rich purple too. I also don't plant them individually either. I usually sow 3 to a 3 inch pot [ deep ones ] then plant out the whole clump.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
Just glad I don't have carpets, I'm as clumsy as your collie and had to sweep up the kitchen several times before we could evict.
My toms are just finishing and I love spring cabbage.
I was perhaps foolishly thinking that sowing now might alleviate the 'my house is actually a greenhouse' situation (A quarter of the sitting room floor, kitchen window sill, spare bedroom under grow lights, bedroom window sill, big shelf in lean to...) when waiting for the frosts to end, and then having a zillion plants to plant out.
However there is a danger I will get over-enthusiastic and do the same next year anyway. (Sow far too many.) I also need to be more disciplined and not so timid about hardening hardy plants off in cold frames and, now, the greenhouse. It would probably do me good to make a few mistakes and learning from them rather than erring on the cosseting side.
I did a lot of sweet pea research last year but will go back to it again. I remember seeing one article suggesting that it's fine if your sweet peas actually freeze, as long as you let them defrost slowly.
I am determined to nail sweet peas. Two years running, they have succumbed to mildew after just 4-6 weeks. I fear, though, the answer is more to grow them in the ground (I don't have much ground to put them in) or at least put far fewer in pots as much as anything else. Again discipline (and faith in what I have read) is going to be key.
Even here, where we don't get the long, hot dry spells that southern areas get [apart from this year!] it can affect them. I grow a lot of mine in north west facing spots, where they only get a bit of morning sun, and some later in the day.
They key to having healthy s. pea plants is - don't use heat when germinating them. Don't cosset them - even when undercover. Pinch them out if they get too big - if they haven't been cossetted, they'll have good root systems, as opposed to the weak, leggy ones which don't . Plant out when your conditions are suitable. Lots of food and water. Ideally- well rotted manure at the base of pots or planting areas, with good compost on top, plus whatever food you like to use
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I had some spares that I bunged into a border rather than waste, which lasted for months. They were at the back of the border (so not ideal, or indeed very visible) but even so did well, hence me thinking in the ground might be better, but that would involve giving over more space than I would perhaps like. (Mind you given how much space my Cosmos ended up hogging this year...)
Anyway this year I will grow them in the greenhouse. There will be plenty of light in there so no need for grow lights.
They're very tough.
I have to be careful where I put them in the ground because they can disappear overnight due to slugs. Most of mine are in pots, but some are in one of the raised beds. I've still got two groups of them flowering away in there. Beaujolais [a very reliable dark variety] and Windsor, a nice rich purple too.
I also don't plant them individually either. I usually sow 3 to a 3 inch pot [ deep ones ] then plant out the whole clump.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...