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Overwintering sweet pea seeds
glenda young
Posts: 3
in Plants
Hello, I'm new to this forum so forgive me if this is a question that's been asked and answered many times before.
On last week's Gardener's World on BBC, Monty Don planted some sweet pea seeds and he said to overwinter them in a coldframe.
What does 'overwinter' actually mean?
Is it just keeping the seeds in the greenhouse/coldframe or must I keep them frost-free?
And do I need to water them while this over-wintering malarkey is going on? 
0
Posts
They may well start shooting quite soon, they need to be in a greenhouse/coldframe. You do need to water them. I have always done this with sweet peas, but last year on GW Monty did a trial and found that there wasn't much difference sowing them now to sowing them in the spring, and I think I am going to do that this year. I live in Scotland and last year, by the time it was warm enough to put them out, they were really leggy.
I agree with Meadow, and won't sow mine till next Feb/March.
You really have to pinch them out if they've grown a fair bit after an autumn sowing Meadow. That means you have a bushier plant to put out when spring eventually arrives
I usually sow direct in spring, but decided recently to stick some in pots in a plastic greenhouse - purely to save me braving the cold weather to go out and sow in April
The cold springs up here mean that there's little advantage in sowing now, spring sown ones will catch up anyway. I just fancied doing it for a change to see if there was any real benefit.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hello Glenda, and welcome to the madhouse
David K who knows about sweet peas recommends sowing now and keeping them in a cold frame over the winter. Unless, that is, you live in a particularly cold area where it's likely to get down to -20 or so outside. There's a thread about this - he runs one every year, a bit like an agony colum for sweet pea growers.
http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/the-potting-shed/sweet-pea-know-how/820371-2.html
...is the one, He knows everything there is to know about them.
Thankyou all for your help and for the link to the sweet peas too! I think I'll do some now in toilet roll holders (and pinch out in spring) and some in spring too.
By sowing now, Monty Don is contradicting what he has said previously about sowing sweet pea seeds in autumn, dismissing it as a waste of time ....but hey-ho!
As I've said lots of times on the other thread, there is a good case to be made for making two sowings, one in the autumn and another in the spring.
What is a fact, that plants from autumn sowings are more robust and give a head start at the start of the growing season.
Thanks David! I've never grown them from seed before, I usually just buy some in spring from a garden centre, but they are such gorgeous flowers I felt the need to grow my own.
Hi, Glenda,,,apart from the satisfaction of growing your own plants, you'll notice the superior quality compared with those from a GC.
Help always at hand on the link Steve posted.
I sometimes get the feeling that what Monty does on the programme is what he has been told to do and not what he does for his own personal garden.