Some Tips for Easy-to-Grow Sweet Peas
With just a little know-how, sweet peas are very easy to grow.
First, select a sunny location since they need lots of light for masses of blooms. When planting in the ground, select a site where the vine varieties can climb unimpeded. Dig a narrow trench at least a foot deep.
Mary Lou Heard, owner of Heard’s Country Gardens in Westminster, recommends adding builder’s sand so the seeds are in well-draining soil. Other experts also add compost or soil amendment. Mix well, add a handful of all-purpose granular fertilizer and plant. Sow seeds one inch deep. Heard recommends planting the seeds five inches apart, instead of the one or two inches recommended on seed packets.
“Spacing them further apart and even removing the bottom shoots when the plants are growing helps air circulation and diminishes the powdery mildew damage,” she said.
Stronger, more vigorous plants are produced by pinching out the growing tips of the seedlings when they’re a few inches tall. This encourages the plants to produce more side growth.
Heard also believes it’s not necessary to soak the seeds before planting, as conventional wisdom states.
“We don’t soak the seeds, but we never let the seeds dry out while they’re germinating,” Heard said. “We water the trench every morning and evening until the seedlings emerge.”
Renee Shepherd, owner of the mail-order seed company Shepherd’s Garden Seeds in Felton, Calif., also agrees that soaking seeds isn’t a requirement. She, too, discourages her customers from the practice.
“Some people tend to think that if one day of soaking is good, then one week is even better, so we suggest they don’t soak them at all,” she said. “But gardening is an art and if it works for you, then by all means do it.”
For vine varieties, provide trellis, netting, string or wire for the seedlings to climb, or plant along a chain-link fence where the tendrils can fasten.
Watch closely for snail or bird damage, as the young shoots can attract them. You can either place snail bait along the beds or if you prefer a nontoxic approach, put out shallow saucers of beer. Snails and slugs are attracted by the malt and drown in the brew (presumably with no pain and a last slurp of pleasure).
When the plants flower, harvest the blossoms at least three or four times a week to encourage flower production.
Flowering sweet peas are also bred for strong, long stems and you can expect the tall vine varieties to produce five- to seven-inch stems. Be sure to cut at the stem base. Some people cut entire tendrils for their flower arrangements. If you’ve missed the flowers, be sure to remove the seed pods.
Fertilize once or twice a month to encourage strong, vigorous flower production. Liquid fertilizer is more easily absorbed by the plant in winter or early spring.
As the season progresses, the stem lengths shorten and flowers become smaller. Eventually, the lengthening and increasingly hotter days will spell the end to the plants, leaving dry stalks and the promise of fragrances to come.
