Sweet Pea confusion.. advice please!

[Finley]

Hi I've never grown sweet peas and I am a bit puzzled by the wealth of conflicting opinion. Google has told me to sow in autumn/spring/inside/outside/anytime. Seed packet tells me to sow indoors now under a heated propagator; fellow allotment holder says Kings Seeds won't work unless pure compost..
I have a mixed pack of 4 types which apparently smell divine I just don't know who to listen to or what to do!
Shall I just bung some in outside and some inside and see what happens?? Spoiler alert: did this last year with my veg - not v productive!

[Thelma Sanders]

I'll sow mine in the greenhouse end of Feb/March

Sowed some in Autumn 2015 and they weren't any better than Spring sown ones tbh so that's what I've gone back to.
Monty Don..
How to grow sweet peas (part one) | gardenersworld.com

[Finley]

Ah thank you - I kept seeing people saying they had sown theirs and thought I was missing a trick! I'll hold off then

[bramble]

I will give you the other advice. I have been sowing them in the greenhouse every year in very early spring. Last year I sowed them in the greenhouse in the autumn and planted them out in the open ground where I wanted them to flower in early March. I had a fantastic display that started early and lasted right through until late autumn. Unfortunately I didnt get time to sow this years until about 10 days ago but they have germinared already.
I use modules to sow them in and use any multi purpose compost. They are fairly tough but I will keep them indoors until March.
Hope this helps.

[Guest]

I sowed some in November and some this month. Both lots in the green house. I intend to sow again Feb, March and April. The only thing I would advise against is sowing indoors at the moment as they will grow all soft and lanky from the warmth and take up space of more deserving seedlings. Also avoid sowing direct out at the moment due to cold, wet and rodents

Basically if now some where sheltered/ cool and light or wait till it gets warmer they will soon catch up

[Finley]

Haha amazing I got the full gamut!! Thank you all - I'm going to sow some in my shed by the window and see if they come, and if they do I'll sow successionally and then outside end Feb.
Thanks!

[roitelet]

Pinch the tops out at three leaves, they flower better on side shoots.

[vixylix]

I sowed mine mid-April last year (indoors at first) and they took off like rockets!

[burnie]

I've just sown mine today in a heated propagator along with my first chillies and peppers, the sweetpeas will go into the greenhouse later, some in the ground to stay there all summer and some outside on the trellis hiding our bins.

[ancee]

I'm holding off as last year's got far too leggy as not enough light and didn't fare as well as previous years. I'm trying not be tempted to sow stuff too soon this year but I get excited and impatient. I only have 4 toilet roll tubes anyway so I'll have to wait until I have at least 16 more!

[mrsbusy]

Hi Finley..I am new to sweet peas too - altho last year I germinated the peas fine then tried to grow them in a half barrel which was a disaster - also the seeds were real cheap ones from Aldi i think. The flowers were all deformed.
So this year I bought much posher seeds and also found a good guide online which I am following - if you google Roger Parsons it comes up as specialist sweet pea grower - so I have germinated my peas in an unheated and very cold spare room using rootrainers. So far so good. Also have a proper bed for them this year! Good luck with your sweet peas - they are my favourite summer flower.

[Guest]

Hi Finley..I am new to sweet peas too - altho last year I germinated the peas fine then tried to grow them in a half barrel which was a disaster - also the seeds were real cheap ones from Aldi i think. The flowers were all deformed.
So this year I bought much posher seeds and also found a good guide online which I am following - if you google Roger Parsons it comes up as specialist sweet pea grower - so I have germinated my peas in an unheated and very cold spare room using rootrainers. So far so good. Also have a proper bed for them this year! Good luck with your sweet peas - they are my favourite summer flower.

I have only discovered Roger Parsons this week. I found his site after googling a variety from another site where they wanted to charge £6p+p (more than what the seed order was) I have also got his sweet pea book out from the library, I am only a few pages in and have learnt loads already and thankfully it has clarified a lot as well. I am trying to hold off ordering more seeds til October. RP has over 1000 in his national collection

[mrsbusy]

Hi Norfolkgrey - yes you do have to watch out for postage costs. I hope one day to see the national collection - we go down to Chichester to visit m-in-law occasionally. I will have to look out for his book. good luck - hope you get some great sweet peas.

[burnie]

Well mine are sprouting, so I guess it's too late to put them back in the packet lol.

[Finley]

My first ones haven't sprouted yet but I do have a tiny (edible) pea shoot trying to come through hurrah!