starting sweetpeas now?

[nick the grief]

sow them now Vicki, they won't grow as fast as the beans and I would plant them on alternat poles & the beans on the other ones.

[vicki lorraine]

Thanks Nick. Will do that tomorrow.

[shirlthegirl43]

Want to sow something so my sweetpeas it will be. One query though, do they need to be indoors or can I leave them in a sheltered bit of garden?

[WiZeR]

I would like to grow sweet peas instead of beans this year for a bit of colour. Could you guys recommend some seeds?

[greenlung]

Hi Nick - cheers, thanks for the advice....although if I put 'em out during the day at the moment, they'll have flown to Denmark by teatime ; )

[nick the grief]

I would like to grow sweet peas instead of beans this year for a bit of colour. Could you guys recommend some seeds?

Unless you want to show them I'd go for a mixture then if there are some that you are really fond of tie some wool on the stems (not green as you want to see it easily) e let some of the flowers go to seed later on. They are self fertile & pollentate before the flower is open so you are 99% sure to get the colour you want.

If you want some particular ones try these websites

http://www.sweetpeasonline.co.uk/

http://www.lathyrus.com/

http://www.rpsweetpeas.co.uk/

And there may be some info on here

http://www.sweetpeas.org.uk/

[wellie]

Thanks for the 'pinching out' tip guys ! In all the things I've grown over the past 10 years, I've never grown Sweet Peas until Autumn 2006, and so they're just about the right stage for pinching now.
I'm going to grow them up a beautiful rusty Arbour, where I've got a table and chairs underneath (will get Trousers to post up a nice piccy if he can) along with some Sweet Dumpling Winter Squashes. It should look really pretty.

[Kathie]

I have just sown my Sweet Peas in empty 'toilet roll tubes' it gives them a good root run.

[Bex]

Sweetpea help!!

Hi Guys

My sweetpeas are now about 12" high, when can I plant them out?

Thanks in advance

[filthyrich]

bex sounds a bit early to put sp,s out and they seem to tall i would pinch out the growing point to reduce them to about 4-5 inches in height ,then gradually harden them off before planting them in their final position in well prepared ground with plenty of well roted muck down deep .

[Bex]

Thanks Filthy, will do!

[mrskp]

blowed if i can find it now, but in a recent edition of a magazine (don't think it was GYO) someone suggested cutting of the tendrils of the sweetpeas as they climbed up a net, and once they reached the top, you shot the whole lot back down to the floor and they start climbing again. it extends the length of the stems for cutting or something. Wanted to try it this year so will have to do a bit more flicking through !

My second lot of sweetpeas went in loo rolls on 13/1 (can't find the date for the previous lot but it was before christmas). I've nipped the ends but they all still need to put on a bit of weight before putting them out.

last year they were sown until the end of April and went so mad that they crowded out the runner beans on trellis that they were sharing. they were like triffids ! In the end I couldn't keep up with the cutting and deadheading. I was supplying the office and indoors for weeks. i do remember i had a fleece wall round them for a good while after they went in the ground just to keep the wind off. i don't think they like wind !

Trial and Retribution coming on so I shall flick for that article while i watch.



end of part one and found it ! OK, this lady "layers" them which involves removing all the tendrils as they form so that when the plants reach the top of their supports, they can be untied and lowered, allowing them to grow up to the top again.

[Eden]

sweet pea tendrils

Hi there,
I've also read about pinching off the tendrils so the plants can put their energy into flowering. I'd be a little cautious of putting sweet peas outside yet, last year I started them off in January in loo rolls, pinched them out and when they started getting a bit big I stuck half a green gardening stick down the side of the loo roll and gently tied the sweet peas to the stick, to stop them from tangling up and flopping over. I put them into my green house but it was a bit too cold for them even with the heater on! The leaves started to look worse for wear so I brought them back in till it warmed up. Good luck with your peas!!

Eden

[nick the grief]

blowed if i can find it now, but in a recent edition of a magazine (don't think it was GYO) someone suggested cutting of the tendrils of the sweetpeas as they climbed up a net, and once they reached the top, you shot the whole lot back down to the floor and they start climbing again. it extends the length of the stems for cutting or something. Wanted to try it this year so will have to do a bit more flicking through !

My second lot of sweetpeas went in loo rolls on 13/1 (can't find the date for the previous lot but it was before christmas). I've nipped the ends but they all still need to put on a bit of weight before putting them out.

last year they were sown until the end of April and went so mad that they crowded out the runner beans on trellis that they were sharing. they were like triffids ! In the end I couldn't keep up with the cutting and deadheading. I was supplying the office and indoors for weeks. i do remember i had a fleece wall round them for a good while after they went in the ground just to keep the wind off. i don't think they like wind !

Trial and Retribution coming on so I shall flick for that article while i watch.



end of part one and found it ! OK, this lady "layers" them which involves removing all the tendrils as they form so that when the plants reach the top of their supports, they can be untied and lowered, allowing them to grow up to the top again.

Thus is the technique used by people who show them as it gives them a longer stem & bigger flowers. what you do is remove them from the cane and lay them on the floor with about 2 or 3 foot of the plant up the new cane & start again. You have to use sweet pea rings which are made of soft wire to fasten them on to the canes though.

If you are really interested can I suggest you get hold of a copy of the book written by Bernard Jones - it is The ssweetpea bible written by a man who was a real enthusiast and he bred some of the best of the recent varieties.

http://www.lathyrus.com/books/brj.html

[mrskp]

thanks for the tip NTG. I had a solid wall of them last year and would love a repeat (or better) this.

these "rings" of which you speak. are they the same as you'd use on say tomato plants ?