I use both glazed and plastic pots. I don't have any teracotta ones that are big enough! (6 plants to a 45 inch pot.) I use water retaining gel, decent compost, slow release sweet pea food. (Sarah Raven sells it). Water every day and feed (tomato food or seaweed) once a week on top of the slow release. I water the soil, of course, and try to avoid the leaves. Water in the morning. I have done so much research on this! I try to avoid potting on if I can. But they do not react badly when I do.They are very healthy plants when they go out into a big pot or raised bed. I think the thing is, given courgettes and peas get it, it's in the garden so the sweet peas get it. I will try one seed per root trainer.
They are still very much worth doing for me even if they only last a couple of months. This years' in particular were so lovely and the best I have ever grown... until they got mildew. My second lot, as I said, still had a flower on until last week, so they survived the mildew. Downside of growing in the raised bed is that it infects other things. I was assured by various people that if I made sure there was no debri on the soil after I cleared them it would be ok to grow curcubits there. It was not!
I have found that calendula can be pruned if they look worse for wear after winter, they put up fresh growth with the benefit of more established roots.
Ah I didn't know they can be short-lived perennials. (Just looked them up.) Mine usually succumb to mildew too, but although they are mildewy this year they are still going strong.
Re your sweet peas - I'd lay off the seaweed feed. It promotes foliage more than flowers, so it's not much use for them. I'd also not use both the slow release and tomato food at the same time. It's too much and not necessary. Overfeeding can be detrimental. Try using a heftier growing medium - ie rotted manure added to your compost, instead. You can get it bagged in GCs etc If you're prone to getting mildew generally in the garden, it suggests you have very dry conditions, and/or a lot of humidity. Watering at night rather than morning is worth trying. It stays in the soil longer and is more beneficial than morning watering which can evaporate more quickly Mildews are plant specific too, so anything affecting your sweet peas won't affect a different species. Sweet peas are tough, so they can outgrow a poor spell of weather, so it's worth persevering, and trying some in a cooler/shadier site if you can
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I use tomato usually more than seaweed. I do get a lot of flowers. That's not the issue. I use the feed well into the season when I assume the slow release will have been used up, as I think you said you do too. Bottom line is that my plants always look healthy, produce lots of flowers, but around week 6 get mildew. The ones in the raised bed were better insofar that they had longer stems (not down to variety) than usual.
I water most things at night (no time before work in the morning) but tried watering SPs in the morning this year, as it was suggested this was better for mildew. I don't water the ground unless it's very hot and dry.
Sorry I really have tried a lot of things to try to avert the problem. One wonders though if it should really be so very complicated!
One site says this: Powdery mildew spores typically drift into your garden with the wind, but if you’ve had powdery mildew occur in the past, new outbreaks may also come from dormant spores in old vegetative material or weeds nearby.
So better 'garden hygiene' would probably help but I imagine it's impossible to eliminate it.
It sounds like there isn't much wrong with what you're doing @REMF33. I can't think of anything else, but plenty of water when you get nearer that 6 week stage. It's certainly very early for them to succumb. Try doing some photos next year, at around a month, and then a few weeks later. That might help with advice. It can sometimes be difficult to judge. The foliage low down certainly gets manky on sweet peas, especially potted ones, although some varieties seem a little better than others. I grew one called Dr. Robert Uvedale this year, and it was much greener for longer. I tend to put other pots etc in front of them to hide the bottoms, or put them in a site where I can put them behind other plants. The ones in the border are much better though. Easier for them to stay hydrated. I don't think there's much you can do about that, from what DavidK [who used to post on the forum] said, and he was highly knowledgeable on the subject.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
I use water retaining gel, decent compost, slow release sweet pea food. (Sarah Raven sells it). Water every day and feed (tomato food or seaweed) once a week on top of the slow release.
I water the soil, of course, and try to avoid the leaves. Water in the morning. I have done so much research on this!
I try to avoid potting on if I can. But they do not react badly when I do.They are very healthy plants when they go out into a big pot or raised bed.
I think the thing is, given courgettes and peas get it, it's in the garden so the sweet peas get it.
I will try one seed per root trainer.
They are still very much worth doing for me even if they only last a couple of months. This years' in particular were so lovely and the best I have ever grown... until they got mildew.
My second lot, as I said, still had a flower on until last week, so they survived the mildew.
Downside of growing in the raised bed is that it infects other things.
I was assured by various people that if I made sure there was no debri on the soil after I cleared them it would be ok to grow curcubits there. It was not!
Mine usually succumb to mildew too, but although they are mildewy this year they are still going strong.
If you're prone to getting mildew generally in the garden, it suggests you have very dry conditions, and/or a lot of humidity. Watering at night rather than morning is worth trying. It stays in the soil longer and is more beneficial than morning watering which can evaporate more quickly
Mildews are plant specific too, so anything affecting your sweet peas won't affect a different species. Sweet peas are tough, so they can outgrow a poor spell of weather, so it's worth persevering, and trying some in a cooler/shadier site if you can
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Bottom line is that my plants always look healthy, produce lots of flowers, but around week 6 get mildew.
The ones in the raised bed were better insofar that they had longer stems (not down to variety) than usual.
I water most things at night (no time before work in the morning) but tried watering SPs in the morning this year, as it was suggested this was better for mildew.
I don't water the ground unless it's very hot and dry.
Sorry I really have tried a lot of things to try to avert the problem. One wonders though if it should really be so very complicated!
So better 'garden hygiene' would probably help but I imagine it's impossible to eliminate it.
I can't think of anything else, but plenty of water when you get nearer that 6 week stage. It's certainly very early for them to succumb.
Try doing some photos next year, at around a month, and then a few weeks later. That might help with advice. It can sometimes be difficult to judge.
The foliage low down certainly gets manky on sweet peas, especially potted ones, although some varieties seem a little better than others. I grew one called Dr. Robert Uvedale this year, and it was much greener for longer. I tend to put other pots etc in front of them to hide the bottoms, or put them in a site where I can put them behind other plants. The ones in the border are much better though. Easier for them to stay hydrated.
I don't think there's much you can do about that, from what DavidK [who used to post on the forum] said, and he was highly knowledgeable on the subject.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...