Tallest Sweet Peas

[HeyWayne]

Last year I grew sweet peas for the first time ever.

I grew them across the back of our garden and was very pleased with teh result and had cut flowers for weeks on end.

The one thing I'd of liked would have been to be able to grow them higher as they only grew about halfway up the pea netting I have in place.

I have, and will again, grown them in a kind of "trough" we have on our decking. It's made of railway sleepers turned on their side and then shorter lengths attached at the ends. It's then filled with compost and a bit of sandy rubble at the bottom (quick sketch attached).

Are there any tall sweet peas (6ft ish), or would you recommend anything else to grow up behind them?

If anyone knows of any tall sweet peas do you also know an inexpensive place to buy them? I want to grow quite a few to hopefully cover the back fence in colour.

[Jeanied]

I'm no sweet pea expert but I think the Spencer varieties are fairly tall, HW. The ones for exhibition are grown on a single mainstem and I think they take the sideshoots and tendrils off to focus on the bloom. For the normal grower I think the spacing is important - so that there is no crowding and less of a chance for mildew to spread- and feeding/ watering - sweet peas are very hungry feeders.
How about mingling them with Morning Glories - that blue with the pinks of the sweet peas could be good - again a hungry feeder so the old soluble plant food on watering is in order.

[Flummery]

I thought they were all tall - mine usually are. Maybe it's because they are in a trough - they like plently of moisure at their feet.

[Two_Sheds]

I've never known a short sweet pea ... mine are bog standard, and all topple over our 6 foot fences

[Flummery]

I think there's a dwarf one - called Snoopea or somesuch. But standard sweet peas are big, lad! Like yersen.

[FionaH]

Dunno which ones I grew last year, they were a gift from Selfraising. They were mighty tall though! I had to get the lads to cut the top ones for me, and they are pushing 6ft

[Pumpkin Becki]

Maybe you didn't feed and water them enough? Mine normally get to around 7ft and I usually only go for a general mixed pack, no specific variety.

[HeyWayne]

Like yersen.

Haven't heard that in ages!

I think I must have underfed them then. To be honest the soil is pretty poor - as it was filled with quite a bit of sandy rubble from when we did the garden, only the top 3-4 or so inches are actually soil of any description. At the time I wasn't really much of a gardener and we just bunged a load of bulbs in there (which the squirrels munched happily away on) - but now I quite like the colours and scents when sat up on the decking of a summer's afternoon supping drinks and eating barbecue.

Looks like I'll have to try and pack as much organic matter as I can into it and feed, feed, feed when watering.

[HeyWayne]

Maybe you didn't feed and water them enough? Mine normally get to around 7ft and I usually only go for a general mixed pack, no specific variety.

I think that's it in a nutshell.

I'm such a scrooge.

[Pumpkin Becki]

I think that's it in a nutshell.

I'm such a scrooge.

Lots and lots of well rotted manure in the trough and maybe some water retaining granules, that'll help.

[bramble]

Lidl are selling sweet pea seeds at the moment for 99c per packet. They have the tall ones 6ft and the dwarf 3ft in stock. I counted them and there were 44 in one pack and 43 in the other. Very good value i think. The only thing is they are not a named variety but i have grown them before and didn't find any thing wrong with them.

[rustylady]

What variety did you grow Wayne? They may have been bred to be short.

[Jeanied]

The tall variety of sweet peas is the 'well fed and watered' variety!

[rustylady]

The tall variety of sweet peas is the 'well fed and watered' variety!

Yes Jeanied, but some are specially bred to be dwarf.

[Burnzie]

Hi, if you pinch out some of the tendrils this will put extra vigour into upward growth and longer flower stems.

Burnzie