Climbing Sweet Peas in Pots

Gardening can be an incredible educational and family-oriented activity that’s enjoyable for everyone involved. Your children will love discovering how plants thrive through gardening!

Sweet peas are one of the easiest plants to start from seed and will thrive under any environment. Once planted, they’ll quickly develop and bloom like magic!

Sowing

No matter if they are grown in pots, the ground, or small garden beds, successful sweet pea cultivation requires starting off strong. Once established, consistent watering and feeding strategies should keep your sweet peas producing flowers throughout summer.

Select a multi-purpose potting mix. This helps avoid issues like heavy clay soil and nutrient depletion from the start, and also aids in root growth for healthy plant development. A loose mix also encourages expansion, essential for strong plants.

Digging organic matter (like well-rotted manure) into the soil before planting creates a richer environment that peas will thrive in. Once vines begin flowering, switch to high potash fertiliser (such as liquid tomato feed) every week as an easy nutrient swap that redirects their focus away from foliage growth towards fragrant flower production – this tip for growing climbing sweet peas in containers is one of the best methods.

Support

Sweet peas are vine-like plants that require support to grow upward and flower. Most varieties feature tendrils that’self-cling’ to supports, though others may require initial and ongoing tying to keep their position upright and direct energy towards growing long stems rather than supporting themselves upright. When tying plants loosely it ensures more energy goes towards supporting stem growth than keeping itself upright – ideal if tying can also prevent any potential injury to surrounding plants!

Your choice of trellis will depend on both space available and desired plant height. A DIY teepee made of bamboo canes or hazel sticks pushed into the ground before being tied at their ends may work, or consider purchasing an obelisk from your local garden center.

Create a living arch with “brown” (dead) willow rods poked into the soil at regular intervals and tied at their tips, providing texture in your garden. Metal arches may also fit perfectly into any outdoor design scheme.

Watering

Sweet peas require consistent moisture levels in their containers or garden beds for best growth, especially during hot weather. Be mindful to monitor soil moisture levels regularly, water when the top inch feels dry to the touch and avoid overwatering which can lead to root rot or fungal issues.

Once your plants are established, be sure to give them regular watering with a watering can, filling it until the drainage holes overflow – this way all parts of the root ball receive sufficient hydration.

As plants get taller, I snip off any faded flowers to encourage more blooms and corral them near the trellis with twine as an additional measure – sort of like corralling herd animals near a fence– as well as use bits of twine to tie each plant to its support sticks so tendrils have something solid to grab onto when climbing upwards. This keeps each one secure so new growth doesn’t leave me hanging with nothing for it to latch onto when climbing begins!

Feeding

Sweet peas are one of the most rewarding flowers, and when harvested early in the day (before the sun’s heat has had time to settle in), they provide a long season of fragrant blossoms. To extend this beautiful display for as long as possible, be sure to remove spent flowers as soon as they start fading; this simple step tells the plant it’s time to stop sending out new blooms, helping ensure you keep beautiful bouquets coming throughout summer!

Before sowing container sweet peas, ensure they receive all of their nutritional needs by mixing a balanced, slow-release fertilizer into their planting soil. This serves as an early-deficiency prevention, helping your plants avoid spindly growth and yellowed leaves that result from early nutritional deficits. When the plants start climbing, switch to high-potassium liquid feed every 2-3 weeks as soon as they start climbing; check moisture with an inch probe into soil before watering; soggy soil is detrimental for container plants as it promotes root rot.