First of all a big thanks for all your effort on the sweet pea thread, seeing your blooms of cut flowers has inspired me to grow sweet peas next year.
Ive read your advice about starting in seed tubes which i am going to order from eagle shortly. I am hoping to sow around the beggining of october as im in north nottinghamshire, would this be sensible?
In terms of seedlings all my seeds thus far have been given/traded and i have these ones below:
You may notice i have some seeds labelled continental mix which are a dwarf variety climber thats expected to reach 30 inches, would these be grown in the same manner as other sweet peas?
In regards to location i have a rather dull outside wall:
I've placed trellis on the wall for now and im hoping to make a trough type planter to plant my sweet peas in to brighten up this area, would this be okay in terms of location? I've read your posts relating to walls sometimes being too warm for SP's and im doubting my plan having seen the image above.
Anyone help me out? I'm not a confident grower and next year will be my first year with sweetpeas!
Perhaps it would be best to answer your query step at a time.
First of all, living in Staffordshire I'm roughly in the same place re seed sowing times. I would say that rather than setting your mind on sowing those seeds in early October, wait to see what the prevailing weather is like.....sometimes mid-November is more favourable. Sowing too early will result in the seedlings being too developed going into winter.
Apart from sowing in deep pots such as grow-tubs (I prefer the (plastic bag) type sold by Eagle) I would recommend using seed compost rather than multipurpose.
I like your trellis project, but as sweet peas are both deep rooted & hungry feeders the trough you mention will need to be as deep as possible.
Those dwarf SPs would be better sown in the spring, then sow as with others.
Regarding those packets in your pic, the only ones I have experience with are Unwins, who are a reputable company who have always sold good quality SP seed.
Good luck.
Could I just add (I've posted this before) if anyone has any queries about growing sweet peas, could you please use this thread rather than send them in a PM to me...it makes sense, as everyone then shares the information.
Very kind of you to reply David and I'll follow your progress on here and hang off sowing my sp's until later in the year.
Regarding the trellis project I'll be sure to make the trough quite deep, I normally use decking boards which have a 5inch span, would 15 inch be an adequate depth?
Good to know my seed is appropriate and I will hold off on the dwarf varieties until spring.
I may order some from eagle as well, yours have been superb.
Okay I'll make sure I build something adequate David.
You mention the sweet peas require a lot of feed, can you tell me what sort of feed the sweet peas prefer? Would a general purpose fees work, it would something like a tomato feed be better?
As a general remark, I would add that when seed companies state on the back of their packets to sow in autumn or specify different months, it should be understood that the back of a seed packet doesn't offer them much scope.
By way of explanation I would say that autumn sowing of sweet pea seed is a balancing act and being so, no definitive time can be given for sowing.
The best case scenario is to sow the seed and as soon as it has germinated hope for the onset of cold weather to keep them from putting on further growth.....the general idea being that in October (or whenever) there is still sufficient natural warmth to germinate the seed before the onset of winter......in other words the optimum time.
With the above in mind (and with a little practice) it's advisable to sow according to the existing weather, not a particular week/month.
Hi David had a lil look through, some beautiful pictures! Just wondering if you could tell me, are they reliable self-seeders or will I need to pinch my pods off and start them off inside? I have some 'cupani', some frilly whites and a rogue lavender coloured one.. will the seed stay true or will these cross?
Posts
First of all a big thanks for all your effort on the sweet pea thread, seeing your blooms of cut flowers has inspired me to grow sweet peas next year.
Ive read your advice about starting in seed tubes which i am going to order from eagle shortly. I am hoping to sow around the beggining of october as im in north nottinghamshire, would this be sensible?
In terms of seedlings all my seeds thus far have been given/traded and i have these ones below:
You may notice i have some seeds labelled continental mix which are a dwarf variety climber thats expected to reach 30 inches, would these be grown in the same manner as other sweet peas?
In regards to location i have a rather dull outside wall:
I've placed trellis on the wall for now and im hoping to make a trough type planter to plant my sweet peas in to brighten up this area, would this be okay in terms of location? I've read your posts relating to walls sometimes being too warm for SP's and im doubting my plan having seen the image above.
Anyone help me out? I'm not a confident grower and next year will be my first year with sweetpeas!
Hi, Liam
Perhaps it would be best to answer your query step at a time.
First of all, living in Staffordshire I'm roughly in the same place re seed sowing times. I would say that rather than setting your mind on sowing those seeds in early October, wait to see what the prevailing weather is like.....sometimes mid-November is more favourable. Sowing too early will result in the seedlings being too developed going into winter.
Apart from sowing in deep pots such as grow-tubs (I prefer the (plastic bag) type sold by Eagle) I would recommend using seed compost rather than multipurpose.
I like your trellis project, but as sweet peas are both deep rooted & hungry feeders the trough you mention will need to be as deep as possible.
Those dwarf SPs would be better sown in the spring, then sow as with others.
Regarding those packets in your pic, the only ones I have experience with are Unwins, who are a reputable company who have always sold good quality SP seed.
Good luck.
Could I just add (I've posted this before) if anyone has any queries about growing sweet peas, could you please use this thread rather than send them in a PM to me...it makes sense, as everyone then shares the information.
Regarding the trellis project I'll be sure to make the trough quite deep, I normally use decking boards which have a 5inch span, would 15 inch be an adequate depth?
Good to know my seed is appropriate and I will hold off on the dwarf varieties until spring.
I may order some from eagle as well, yours have been superb.
You're welcome, Liam.
I would imagine 15" deep for your trough would be an absolute minimum....20" would be better.
You mention the sweet peas require a lot of feed, can you tell me what sort of feed the sweet peas prefer? Would a general purpose fees work, it would something like a tomato feed be better?
Having said that, you could help the situation in the preparation of your trough......add some well rotted manure to the mix.
I'll take your advice re well rotted manure in the trough though.
Gives me a project for the winter.
As a general remark, I would add that when seed companies state on the back of their packets to sow in autumn or specify different months, it should be understood that the back of a seed packet doesn't offer them much scope.
By way of explanation I would say that autumn sowing of sweet pea seed is a balancing act and being so, no definitive time can be given for sowing.
The best case scenario is to sow the seed and as soon as it has germinated hope for the onset of cold weather to keep them from putting on further growth.....the general idea being that in October (or whenever) there is still sufficient natural warmth to germinate the seed before the onset of winter......in other words the optimum time.
With the above in mind (and with a little practice) it's advisable to sow according to the existing weather, not a particular week/month.
Hi David had a lil look through, some beautiful pictures! Just wondering if you could tell me, are they reliable self-seeders or will I need to pinch my pods off and start them off inside? I have some 'cupani', some frilly whites and a rogue lavender coloured one.. will the seed stay true or will these cross?
Linny - TBH, I always prefer to sow fresh seed, as it's important to me to know what I'm getting.
Having said that, self-seeders or saved seed will always produce flowers, although cross pollination may result in them not being true to type.