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Sweetpeas and mice

Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
in Plants
My sweetpeas have been destroyed by mice. I sowed 80 seeds a month ago, they all germinated so I put slug pellets around them. The following day I saw lots of 3 to 4 ins long white worms laying on the surface of the compost. A mouse had dug a hole in the centre of each pot, pulled up the plant, chewed through the growing stem and eaten the pea.
Every single one.
I usually sow my sweetpeas in the autumn, keeping them in the conservatory. I decided to try leaving them outside this year to avoid the maintainance of watering and turning them as well as trying to avoid long leggy plants. GGRRHH!
Back to square one.
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Posts

  • chickychicky Posts: 10,410
    This happens to me too.  I don’t sow sweetpeas in Autumn, because it is hard enough keeping the mice off them in Spring, never mind all the way through the winter too.

    I think mice have a particular liking for peas - they go for the vegetable varieties too 🐭
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    I've often wondered if it's worth sowing sweetpeas in the autumn for the reasons you mention Joyce Goldenlily. I've never grown them preferring to buy or be given plants but I'd be interested in knowing what others think.
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    Yes. I have to start off all of my peas and beans indoors. They are demolished overnight if I sow them in the garden. I have to wait until they are well grown plants before I risk moving them outside.
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    Why are they demolished overnight, is it because of pests or the weather?
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    It is so much cheaper to grow sweetpeas from seed and you can choose exactly which varieties to grow. I will only grow strongly scented varieties, I am not keen on wishy washy colours and have discovered it is possible to buy a much wider range of varieties from breeders at no extra cost unless you go for specific show varieties. 
    Autumn sown seed produces much stronger, earlier plants and flowers, then the ground can be cleared for a different crop. It also avoids the constant watering problem as they like quite a lot of water, difficult sometimes in long hot summer spells. If you want to exhibit sweetpeas in shows, autumn sown seeds give you more time to grow and train your plants.
    It boils down to personal preference at the end of the day.
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    I see thank you. As I say, never having grown them I wonder if anyone has done both - autumn and spring sowings - and what the results were. I know the weather plays a large part and there are variables. 
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    I am trialling autumn sowing this year but, mindful of the mouse issue, my plants are shielded by four walls of perspex. Unless the Rutland mice start cross breeding with geckos I hope they’ll be safe.
    Rutland, England
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    @Uff - I rarely sow in autumn here. It just isn't worth it. By the time they're ready to go out into pots or the ground, it's too cold for them to make much progress. It's May before they get going. If you sow in March, they'll come away just as quickly, and no need to faff around with them   :)

    If I do sow in autumn, they're under cover - just enough to keep the worst weather off them. Mice rarely eat mine - they have plenty of bird food they can access.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • muckyhandsmikemuckyhandsmike Posts: 239
    I’ve never grown sweet pea before but I was given a free plant last summer when buying bedding plants. It went so well that I collected some seeds to plant next spring ; however I noticed recently that there are self seeded plants popping up near the original plant in the garden. Will these prosper if I just leave them (mice allowing, although they seem to hang around my bird feeders mostly) or will the frosts do for them ? I do have some empty planters with domed lids if that is a better option ... 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If you get long-ish periods of frost of around minus three or more [ie four, five, six days or more]  or spells of below minus five,  or long-ish spells of ice and snow,  they're unlikely to thrive. 

    If you don't, they might be ok, but it's worth nipping the tops out regularly to get them bushier.  :)
    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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